MW4 DMZ FOB Guide: Every Station

Your Forward Operating Base starts with the Operators, DMZ Orders, Stash and Loadout, Firing Range, Survival Kits, Bounty Leaderboard, DMZ Progression, Events and Deploy stations already open. Five more arrive through play: the 3D Printer at DMZ level 2, the Boss Board after your second DMZ Order, the Vendor at level 5, the Gunsmith at level 10 and the Dog Tag Case at level 20.

The numbers that matter before your first deployment:

• The Stash holds 40 items and 12 weapons, counted separately.
• You start with two Active Duty Operator slots. Vault Edition owners start with three.
• Each Operator can earn 18 Trait Points across three Trait trees.

What you can use immediately

Nine stations are open from the first time you walk into the FOB. None of them require a level or an Order, and all of them are reachable from the DMZ main menu.

The Firing Range sits in a wooded grove between the Gunsmith and Vendor plots, with circular and bottle-shaped targets from under 10 meters to over 100 and walls for crouching, prone and mounting.

Deploy has its own price list. Ground infil is free and puts you on foot in a random part of Hajin. A Polaris Dagor A1 costs 5,000 DMZ Cash, an LTV costs 25,000, a Helicopter costs 50,000 and a Cargo Plane costs 100,000. Only the Cargo Plane lets you pick an exact drop point.

Where you land is a separate decision, and the official Hajin environment intel lists every major POI with its own threat rating.

Official source: DMZ Deep Dive, Part 2: How to Play - Forward Operating Base (FOB) Full Intel Guide

The five stations that unlock as you play

Every locked station has a specific trigger. Two are tied to DMZ level, one to Orders, and the rest follow the same level track.

The 3D Printer is the real turning point. It unlocks at level 2 and immediately gives you the starter recipes covered in the DMZ crafting guide. It also becomes the place where you upgrade other stations, so every later unlock has a second layer behind it.

The Boss Board is the only station gated by an Order rather than a level. Finish your second DMZ Order and it opens, giving you a place to buy intel on Lieutenants before a hunt. That system is covered in the Lieutenants and Commanders guide.

The Vendor rotates its stock day to day on the real-world clock, so the item you want may not be there tomorrow.

The Gunsmith deserves its own warning: it does not let you build everything just because you have cash. You can only purchase a base weapon after finding its Weapon Manual in Hajin and extracting with it, and attachments still depend on weapon level and shared unlocks.

Once you own the Dog Tag Case, the 3D Printer upgrade menu can add display slots and raise the DMZ Cash you receive from bounties.

Stash, Loadout and the four resources

The Stash is shared by every Active Duty Operator. It holds up to 40 items and 12 weapons, with weapons counted separately from everything else.

Without a backpack equipped you deploy with the Basic Pack, which has eight item slots. Items stack according to their own stack size, so small consumables do not each consume a slot. Every backpack also has a dedicated pouch for resources.

Four resource types exist: Synthetics, Electronics, Chemicals and Metals. They break down automatically as you loot, never take up Stash slots and are spent at the 3D Printer.

3D Printer Ingredients behave differently. Items such as Binding Catalyst, Biomaterials, Detonators and Control Units are extracted intact, stored in your backpack during a deployment, and only move to the Stash after a successful exfil.

DMZ Cash works the same way. Your Loadout screen always shows it empty before a deployment, because that display tracks money found during the run. Cash only lands in your Bank after you extract.

Active Duty Operators, Dog Tags and the three Trait trees

You begin with two Active Duty slots. Vault Edition owners begin with three, and another slot can be unlocked by progressing your DMZ level. An Operator is locked to the slot you place them in, and the same character cannot occupy two slots at once.

Each Operator carries a Dog Tag, and the Dog Tag is the progression bar. It has 18 levels across six quality tiers: Steel, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Damascus and Onyx, each with I, II and III. Every Dog Tag level grants one Trait Point, so a fully leveled Operator has 18 points to spend.

There are 66 Traits in total, split evenly across three trees. Each tree holds 22:

• Warfighter: direct combat value, including Adrenaline Burst, Equipment Professional, Combat Resistance, Viper Sense, Quick Fix and Possum.
• Scout: information and looting, including Investor, Hostile Looter, Container Looter, Thermal Padding, UAV Upgrade, Overwatch and Field Crafting.
• Survivalist: staying alive, including Air Superiority, Faster Revive, Consumable Duration, Impact Smokes, Free Revive, Numb the Pain and Die Hard.

Within each tree, six Major Traits are always visible and arranged in groups of two, aside from the first pick. The other 16 are Minor Traits that are randomized, and they only appear once you have unlocked the Major Trait below their group. Your first point in a tree goes on that tree's random Minor Trait. After that you pick one Trait per branch, so a single tree can absorb at most nine points.

Once you pick a Trait it is locked in. With 18 points you can max out two trees or spread points across all three at varying levels of completion. A useful rule is to decide early whether you want a specialist or a generalist, because the choice cannot be undone without Prestiging the Operator.

The Operator's Dog Tag level and your overall DMZ level are independent. Reaching Onyx III and 18 Trait Points is what makes an Operator eligible for Prestige. The wider unlock track is described in the official player progression guide.

DMZ Operator Prestige: requirements and costs

Operator Prestige is optional and separate from the level 1 to 55 player track, the level 1 to 70 DMZ track and every other MW4 Prestige system. It is tied to one specific Operator.

The first Prestige requires 18 Trait Points earned with that Operator, the character must not be MIA, and you must equip the required gear while holding the required cash.

All of that gear is consumed when you confirm. Your Traits are removed and reset, and the Operator receives one random Permanent Prestige Trait. An Operator can hold three of these. From the fourth Prestige onward you are offered a fourth random trait, and you can either replace one of your existing three with it or keep all three and discard the new offer.

Prestige Traits stay with the Operator even if you dismiss them, move them to another Active Duty slot or change their skin. The trade-off is real: you convert a fully built Operator and a large pile of gear into a permanent passive bonus, then start the 18-point climb again.

FAQ

What level does the 3D Printer unlock in MW4 DMZ?

DMZ level 2. It is the first station you unlock and the one that drives most of the FOB's later upgrades.

How many items can the FOB Stash hold?

40 items and 12 weapons. Weapons are counted separately, so storing guns does not consume the 40 general item slots.

Do I lose my Operator's Traits when they go MIA?

No. Paying the rescue fee preserves all Traits. What you lose is the gear they were carrying. Dismissing an MIA Operator instead gives you a fresh character with no Traits.

What happens to my gear when I Prestige an Operator?

It is consumed. Remove anything you want to keep from the Operator's backpack and Loadout before confirming, or you lose it along with the required Rare, Epic or Legendary items.

Related Guides

• MW4 DMZ Crafting and 3D Printer Guide covers the starter recipes and every FOB upgrade the Printer can build.
• MW4 DMZ Lieutenants and Commanders explains the Boss Board hunts that unlock after your second Order.
• MW4 DMZ Guide: How to Play covers the deployment basics if this is your first extraction shooter.
• MW4 Prestige and Progression Guide separates the two Prestige routes from DMZ Operator Prestige.