Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 DMZ does not let you print weapons. What players call a weapon “recipe” is a Weapon Manual: loot found in Hajin that must leave with you on exfil. Extracting it makes that base weapon available to buy at the Gunsmith. Gear recipes, such as the Tempered Armor Vest recipe, work the same way: you extract with them to print the item.
Quick answer: Loot duffel bags, first aid kits, filing cabinets and dead enemy operators’ backpacks.
The drop spots below are where two manuals and several recipes turned up. They are not a complete list; the counting room vault, for example, can hold a Zip Gun Recipe. Loot in containers is not fixed, so treat each spot as a container worth checking, not a guaranteed spawn.
Weapon Manual vs 3D Printer recipe cards in DMZ
The two item types look alike in your backpack. Each card’s type line and description tell you which one you are holding and where it will unlock.
| Item type | Example card | Type line | Card text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon Manual | MANUAL: SANG 9MM | WEAPON MANUAL | $5000 | “Unlocks ability to purchase this weapon in Gunsmith.” |
| 3D Printer recipe | 2-PLATE BALLISTIC GEL VEST | 3D PRINTER RECIPE | $5000 | “Exfil recipe to print this item at the 3D Printer.” |
| 3D Printer recipe | LARGE SCAVENGER BACKPACK | 3D PRINTER RECIPE | $5000 | “Exfil recipe to print this item at the 3D Printer.” |
The $5000 on each card is the item’s listed value. It is not what you pay to print the item or to buy the weapon.
Where weapon manuals and recipes dropped in Hajin
| Item | Type | Container | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual: Sang 9mm | Weapon Manual | Blue duffel bag | Moving train, Cheongun Outskirts |
| Pain Killers Recipe | 3D Printer recipe | Enemy operator’s backpack | Gas station exfil, Cheongun Outskirts |
| Large Scavenger Backpack | 3D Printer recipe | AD138 first aid kit | Fire station, North Korean Wilderness (C6) |
| 2-Plate Ballistic Gel Vest | 3D Printer recipe | Grey filing cabinet | Heavenly Luck Casino (F4) |
| Manual: Type 73 | Weapon Manual | Blue duffel bag | Barracks, Chang-san Air Base |
| Zip Gun Recipe | 3D Printer recipe | Blue duffel bag | Barracks, Chang-san Air Base |
| Combat Drone | 3D Printer recipe | Footlocker | Barracks, Chang-san Air Base |
| Pain Killers Recipe, Energy Drink Recipe, Drill Charge Recipe | 3D Printer recipe | Medicine cabinets in the washrooms | Barracks, Chang-san Air Base |
Manual: Sang 9mm on the Hajin train
Hajin has a moving passenger train, and its route shows on the tac map. The carriages are full of loot containers.
A train sweep that turns up no manual still pays. The green military lockers can hold keys: one held the MECHANIC’S SHACK key (RARE, KEY, $100), whose card reads “F5 – Unlocks the mechanic’s shack south of the clinic within Cheongun Village.” Caches in the carriages hold valuables such as REGIONAL COMBAT NOTES (UNCOMMON, VALUABLE, $2000, “Can be extracted and sold in the FOB for cash.”).
The Manual: Sang 9mm came out of a blue duffel bag on a passenger seat while the train ran through Cheongun Outskirts. The same sweep also produced keys, cash valuables, Rigid Synthetics and Detonators.
Pain Killers Recipe from an enemy operator
Enemy operators carry whatever they have looted, so their backpacks can hold recipes too. An operator killed at the gas station exfil in Cheongun Outskirts had a Pain Killers Recipe, which shows as “Pain Killers Recipe x1” in the pickup feed. The same operator was also carrying the HAZARD STOREHOUSE key, Detonators and other loot.
Loot the fallen operator’s pack for the recipe, then make it out.
Large Scavenger Backpack recipe at the fire station
In North Korean Wilderness, look for the red-brick fire station with two numbered vehicle bays at the front and a red Korean sign above them. Its tac map position is roughly C6, alongside the railway and north-east of Deadtown.
Go inside to the vehicle garage, where a military truck is parked. Green AD138 FIRST AID KIT boxes are mounted on the concrete pillars. The recipe was in the kit on the pillar next to the truck. A kit on another pillar in the same garage held Biomaterials, Pain Killers and an Encrypted Archive.
The Large Scavenger Backpack and the Vendor’s Legendary Large Backpack are different items.
2-Plate Ballistic Gel Vest recipe at Heavenly Luck Casino
The compass label at this location is “Heavenly Luck Casino Parking”; the area is marked HIGH threat. The casino is the large building shown in F4 on the tac map, immediately north of the Cheongun Village label.
The compound contains small offices fitted with grey metal filing cabinets. One cabinet held the 2-Plate Ballistic Gel Vest recipe, a Metal Tray and INFANTRY INVASION PLANS. The plans are a valuable that you can extract and sell at the FOB for cash.
Soldiers enter the offices as you loot. You may come away wounded from a fight, so take plates and a bandage.
Manual: Type 73 and recipes in the Chang-san Air Base barracks
Chang-san Air Base (marked CRITICAL threat) has rows of low barracks buildings with bunk rooms and tiled washrooms. One way to get there fast with few fights is the Operation Iron Citadel story mission, which drops you in the North Korean Wilderness right beside the base.
- Blue duffel bags on the floor beside the sleeping mats and next to the lockers. One held MANUAL: TYPE 73 (WEAPON MANUAL, $5000, “Unlocks ability to purchase this weapon in Gunsmith.”). Another held the ZIP GUN RECIPE with Synthetics and Nylon Cloth.
- Green MINA MS41 footlockers on the floor and on tables. One held the COMBAT DRONE 3D Printer recipe; another held a Sedative Inhaler.
- The mirrored medicine cabinets above the washroom sinks. Check each mirror in the row: three of them held the PAIN KILLERS RECIPE, the ENERGY DRINK RECIPE and the DRILL CHARGE RECIPE, alongside Chemicals, Biomaterials and Toothpaste.
Treat these as containers worth checking, not fixed spawns. The barracks containers have held several recipes, but a manual turned up in just one duffel bag (out of the containers listed above).
Securing a manual or recipe until exfil
Carrying a manual or recipe in your backpack has no effect before extraction; the card states that extraction is required. Each card offers three options.
- SECURE stores the item in one of your backpack’s secure slots.
- BACKPACK puts it in a normal slot.
- PING is the third option on the card.
- BACKPACK FULL appears when your bag has no room left.
Choose SECURE if you have a free secure slot. If you don’t, go straight to the nearest exfil after grabbing the manual instead of picking a fight. Each card takes up one item in your backpack, so if you see BACKPACK FULL, drop low-value salvage first.
3D Printer and Gunsmith unlock levels at the FOB
Extract with recipes to print their items; extract with manuals to unlock their weapons for purchase at the Gunsmith. The two FOB stations open at different DMZ levels.
| FOB station | Opens at | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| 3D Printer | DMZ level 2 | 3D Printer recipes |
| Gunsmith | DMZ level 10 | Weapons from Weapon Manuals |
The 3D Printer unlocks after your first DMZ match, once you reach DMZ level 2. Back at the FOB, the notices “Story missions are unlocked” and “Printer Recipe Unlocked” appear, and the 3D PRINTER station opens. Its starting recipes include the Bandage, an UNCOMMON consumable that costs 15 Synthetics and 15 Chemicals. The station also has an Upgrades list: Bank Upgrade I, Stash Item Upgrade I, MIA Recovery Discount I, Uncommon Ingredient Printing, Stash Weapon Upgrade I, Epic Ingredient Printing and Dog Tag Case Upgrade I. Entries you don’t own a recipe for show a padlock in their category until you own the recipe.
