Modern Warfare 4's DMZ has a 70-level progression system and upgradeable FOB
Activision and Infinity Ward have detailed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's returning DMZ mode, including its persistent Forward Operating Base, dedicated 70-level progression system and the systems players will encounter across the Hajin extraction zone.
The first of two official DMZ deep dives was published on October 5. It makes the scale of Infinity Ward's plans much clearer. DMZ still revolves around deploying into a large map, completing objectives, fighting AI and other players, gathering loot and getting out alive, but Modern Warfare 4 is putting far more structure around what happens between those deployments.
Your FOB grows alongside you
The Forward Operating Base, or FOB, is the centre of DMZ's progression.
Players start with access to Active Duty Operators, their Stash and Loadout, DMZ Orders, a Firing Range and Survival Kits. Successful deployments gradually expand the base until it contains more than a dozen Stations.
Among the unlockable Stations is a 3D Printer. Resources and ingredients extracted from Hajin can be fed into it to craft gear, while some of those same materials are required to upgrade other parts of the FOB.
There is also a dedicated Gunsmith which uses DMZ Cash. Players can spend it to add attachments to recovered weapons or build weapons themselves. The selection expands by finding Weapon Manuals in Hajin and successfully extracting them.
The Vendor works differently. Its weapons and equipment also cost DMZ Cash, but the stock changes each day.
Other Stations include a Boss Board for tracking Hajin's stronger enemies, a Dog Tag Case for tags taken from defeated Operators and a Bounty Leaderboard recording successful PvP bounty hunters and kills across the Exclusion Zone.
All of this feeds into a DMZ-specific progression track running from Level 1 to Level 70.
That makes the FOB one of the biggest differences in how Infinity Ward is presenting this version of DMZ. Extracted loot isn't limited to preparing for another run. Some of it feeds directly back into a base that expands as you play.
Hajin gives each deployment plenty to chase
Hajin is Modern Warfare 4's main DMZ extraction zone, with AI forces, rival Operators, bosses, loot, objectives and environmental threats spread across the map.
DMZ Orders provide the more structured side of progression. They introduce the mode's systems, move its story forward and give players specific objectives to complete.
Dynamic Operations can be chosen before deploying or picked up through phones found during a run. Completing one awards DMZ XP and DMZ Cash, along with a Supply Drop. Complete more Dynamic Operations during the same deployment and those Supply Drops increase in quality.
Side Operations are smaller activities scattered around Hajin. Activision's examples include finding lost Supply Drops, repairing trucks and climbing radio towers to narrow down the location of a Lieutenant.
Those Lieutenants are high-value AI targets with their own combat behaviours. Killing one can pay out weapons, DMZ Cash and XP, but taking its Dog Tag adds another problem. Every other Operator on the map can see the position of whoever is carrying it.
Above them are Commanders, stronger roaming bosses that can appear around Hajin. Activision currently lists Colossus, Deathstalker and a North Korean battle tank among the examples.
Making too much noise can make Hajin worse
Modern Warfare 4's DMZ also has a Threat Level system which controls how AI forces respond to players within each area.
Starting fights and drawing attention can push the local Threat Level higher, bringing increasingly dangerous reinforcements into the area. Players can bring the situation back under control by breaking contact, hiding, switching to stealth or leaving the area.
Hajin is also under pressure from spreading radiation. As a deployment continues, conditions become more dangerous and players eventually need to reach an extraction point rather than remain on the map indefinitely.
Vehicles are available across land, sea and air. DMZ handles them differently from Warzone, with vehicles requiring fuel and repairs during a deployment.
Proximity Chat returns too. The Ping Wheel can be used to communicate without voice chat, including options to request a truce or assimilate with another squad.
There is another DMZ deep dive coming
Activision says this is only Part 1 of its Modern Warfare 4 DMZ breakdown.
Part 2 is scheduled for later this week and will concentrate on the Forward Operating Base. Activision says it will cover 3D Printer crafting, Bounties, weapon acquisition, Stashes and Loadouts, Active Duty Operators, DMZ Operator Prestiging, permanent Prestige Traits and the Level 1 to 70 progression system in more detail.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches on October 23, 2026 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC, PlayStation 5, Battle.net, Steam and Nintendo Switch 2.