How DMZ Works in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 (Beginner’s Guide)

In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, DMZ is an extraction-based mode. You enter the Hajin exclusion zone with an empty bag, scavenge supplies, face AI forces and opposing squads, then aim to escape by helicopter. Items you successfully extract remain yours. If you are killed before exfil, your operator becomes Missing In Action and the deployment is a failure.

Quick answer: At the FOB, pick a deployment type, choose Ground infil (it’s free), loot Hajin, then call an exfil, board the helicopter and stay inside until the countdown hits zero.

DMZ lobbies in Modern Warfare 4: squads, players and AI

Before you queue, it helps to know who else shares the map with you. A DMZ lobby is a crowded place.

Each match holds 60 players split into 20 squads.
Teams are capped at three players; enter matchmaking alone, with one other player, or with two teammates.
Matchmaking tries to pair you with squads of your size, but lobbies can mix sizes. A solo player can still run into a full trio.
DMZ early access has no PvE-only setting. Every deployment has AI enemies and other players.

Deploying into Hajin: from the FOB to infil

The Forward Operating Base (FOB) is where each deployment begins and where you return between runs. Your operator occupies an Active Duty slot, displayed on the roster as “ACTIVE DUTY (1/3)”. Operator traits and prestige work independently from FOB stations like Stash/Loadout, the 3D Printer and the Boss Board, so none of these systems prevents you from deploying for the first time.

Check your DMZ Orders. These chapter tasks, such as “Locate and Climb a Hunt Lieutenant Tower” and “Clear a Compound”, appear at the top left of the deployment map and give XP when you finish them.

Open the Hajin map screen and pick a mode under “SELECT DEPLOYMENT”. If you want to explore without a mission on a first run, Free Roam is the simplest choice.

Select Deployment Free Roam — The Select Deployment menu with Free Roam highlighted, which sends you into Hajin City with no mission attached. Shown at 03:12 in MrDalekJD’s video. Image: Infinity Ward

Deployment type	What it is	Example
Story Missions	Named operation with briefing, threat assessment and main objectives	“OPERATION CRITICAL EXTRACTION”
Dynamic Operations	Multi-step operation taken before infil	“OPERATION: DEAD MAN’S CACHE”
Free Roam	“Deploy without a mission and explore Hajin City”	None

Story missions pay rewards such as cash and craft recipes, and some unlock options elsewhere in DMZ. When you run a dynamic operation, its current step appears under the minimap at the top left once you’re on the ground. Side ops can also pop up mid-match, like activating a UAV Tower or climbing a tower to download intel on a Lieutenant.

Choose how you enter on the “SELECT INFIL” screen. The cost comes out of your bank cash, so pick Ground on a first run. It’s free and leaves your money for later.

Select Infil costs screen — The Select Infil screen, where every option except Ground is paid for out of your bank cash. Shown at 05:36 in MrDalekJD’s video. Image: Infinity Ward

Infil option	Cost
GROUND (“Standard Ground Infil”)	FREE
A light vehicle	$5,000
A heavier vehicle	$25,000
HELICOPTER	$50,000
An aircraft option	$100,000

The helicopter option reads “Requisition a Heli for immediate use during Infil.” It isn’t available right away. It is “Unlocked by completing Story Mission: Operation Grid Assault”.

Press DEPLOY to start the match.

DMZ looting: empty backpack, secure slots and item cards

You land in Hajin with an empty backpack, and your kit gets built inside the match. Loot containers, fallen enemies and dead operators all carry weapons, armor, consumables, keys, valuables and crafting materials. You turn valuables like gold bars into cash by carrying them out.

Each item card lists its type, rarity, cash value and effect. For example, the “SEDATIVE INHALER” is an UNCOMMON CONSUMABLE worth $100; its 60s effect grants “Immune to All Radar”, “Immune to All Marking Systems” and “Immune to All Thermal”. On a controller, press A for BACKPACK to collect an item, or Y for PING to flag it for your squad. The use prompt is positioned above those two options.

Your backpack screen has three parts. The backpack grid holds your general loot, the “SECURE SLOTS” protect what you care about, and the “LOADOUT” covers weapons, vest, equipment and other slots. Bigger backpacks give you more room, and you can either find or craft an upgrade over a starter like the “MEDIUM BACKPACK”.

Backpack and secure slots — The backpack screen, with the medium backpack grid next to the secure slots where your most valuable find should go. Shown at 15:42 in MrDalekJD’s video. Image: Infinity Ward

As soon as you collect it, move the item you value most into a secure slot.

Parachutes take their own loadout slot and aren’t equipped by default. You have to find or craft one.
Circling vultures mark a dead operator. That means loot nearby, and possibly the squad that made the kill.
Weather shifts during a match between clear, fog, rain and snow, which changes how far you can see.

POI threat levels and stealth in DMZ

Threat varies by point of interest (POI); on entering one, its level appears in the HUD’s upper-right corner. This rating determines the number of AI foes present and the damage they deal. You may encounter anything from ordinary North Korean infantry to armored soldiers, drones, or roaming bosses known as Lieutenants and Commanders.

Your approach affects the POI’s response. Suppressed shots and stealth takedowns that leave the alarm untouched keep reinforcements from arriving. Gunfire and alarms trigger a response, and the threat level rises. When the situation gets out of control, cut off enemy sightlines, take cover, or retreat; the zone quiets after you disengage.

Most Wanted bounties for killing other players

Killing other operators raises your bounty. When it goes up, a “BOUNTY INCREASED – WANTED” banner shows your bounty value along with the warning “You will be marked on the tacmap for nearby enemy players.”

Your bounty is stored on your dog tag, and picking up another operator’s tag shows that operator’s bounty. At Bounty Stations around Hajin, select “OPEN BOUNTY STATION” to spend cash on lowering your bounty or receiving intel about wanted players. Dying also clears your bounty. The Bounty Leaderboards at the FOB identify the “MOST WANTED”.

How to exfil from DMZ

Extraction is the objective, but reaching it is a common point of failure.

Head to one of the exfil points marked on the map. Clear the area around it before you do anything else.

Call the exfil. A flare goes up and a helicopter starts heading in.

Hold the landing zone until the helicopter arrives. Watch for squads drawn in by the flare.

Board the helicopter and stay inside. A large countdown number appears on screen, and you need to remain aboard until it reaches zero.

Exfil helicopter countdown — The exfil countdown inside the helicopter. Stay aboard until it reaches zero to keep what you carried out. Shown at 20:06 in MrDalekJD’s video. Image: Infinity Ward

DMZ after-action report and Missing In Action

An after-action report appears when each deployment ends, regardless of whether you extracted. It contains four tabs: REPORT, RATING, LEVEL and SUMMARY. When a run fails, the heading reads “FAILED TO EXFIL” and the operator’s status becomes “MISSING IN ACTION”.

RATING gives a letter grade (an “F” on a failed run) and splits XP into OBJECTIVES, COMBAT and LOOTING, with lines like “Loot Containers Opened”, “Hostile Kills” and “Deployment Bonus” adding up to a TOTAL XP.
LEVEL tracks your DMZ level, your DOG TAG level (starting at “STEEL I”) and your progress toward the “NEXT TRAIT POINT”.

A clean exfil means whatever you carried out is yours to keep for the next run. A failed one still earns XP for what you did along the way, so the report is worth reading either way.