How DMZ Recon Works in CODM, From Deployment to Extraction

CODM DMZ Recon is the extraction mode where your squad drops in, grabs what it can and has to get out alive to keep any of it. Season 10 adds a third map, Verdansk, plus a new boss and a new highlight contract, so even players who already know Serpent Island have something new to learn. At gamemarket.gg, we cover how the mode works, what the Chemist and the Prison contract involve, and how to extract without losing your loadout. We update this page every season as new bosses, contracts and maps arrive.

What Is DMZ: Recon in CODM?

DMZ: Recon is Call of Duty: Mobile's third major mode, next to Multiplayer and Battle Royale. It launched with Season 11 in December 2025 and works as PvPvE: squads of up to three players fight AI hostiles and other squads on the same map at the same time.

The rule that shapes every match is simple. You keep what you extract. Loot, cash and mission items only count once your Operator leaves through an exfil, and a radiation cloud keeps closing in until the match ends. If you are eliminated, you lose your whole loadout except the item in your safe slot.

What Season 10 Adds to DMZ: Recon

Season 10, the 7th Anniversary update, goes live on November 11 at 4 PM PT (00:00 UTC on November 12). Verdansk is the headline map for Battle Royale this season, with the Gulag and the new Field Assets changing how BR matches play, and the same map also comes to DMZ: Recon with two new challenges.

The Chemist Boss

The Chemist lives in Verdansk's radiation zone and does not fight alone. Activision says he brings elite bodyguards and a personal arsenal of a grenade launcher, gas grenades and a deadly melee attack.

• Preparation: equip a Gas Mask before you head in. This is the one piece of gear Activision specifically calls out
• Rewards: defeating him gives a chance to earn a new Weapon Blueprint, the Chemist Operator Skin and other high-tier loot

Those rewards are drops, not guarantees, and no drop rates have been shared. As with every boss in the mode, the loot only becomes yours if your squad extracts with it.

Prison Highlight Contract

The Prison Highlight Contract is a very different kind of risk. Your squad heads to Verdansk's prison, gives up its gear and becomes prisoners. From there you search the prison for items and track down the warden's key to find a way out.

Because you enter without your loadout, the contract tests how well your squad can scavenge and move together rather than how strong your kit is. Activision has not said where the key spawns, so expect the first runs to involve some searching.

DMZ: Recon Maps

• Serpent Island: the large outdoor map, laid out much like a Battle Royale map, with the most room for long fights and vehicle travel
• Building 21: an indoor map across three floors, faster and tighter, with elevator exfils
• Verdansk: new in Season 10, home of the Chemist's radiation zone and the Prison Highlight Contract

Before You Deploy: Loadout, Safe Slot and Talents

Every deployment needs at least a weapon, Armor, a few stacks of Armor Plates and ammo, and a backpack. Since you will fight real squads as well as AI, the guns near the top of our CODM best guns tier list are a safe starting point for your main weapon. You can take the free loadout or pay for an upgraded one, and Quick Fill in the pre-battle phase deploys a saved loadout in one tap.

Anything you take in is at risk, which is why the safe slot matters. It keeps one item even if you die, and it can be upgraded for more slots. Put your most valuable find there as soon as you pick it up.

You also pick one Talent per match:

• Scavenger: fires a probe that reveals enemies in a small area on the mini-map
• Assaulter: rewinds you to where you stood a few seconds earlier
• Medical: drops a smoke bomb for retreating, covering a push or reviving a teammate

All three level up with XP cards, and the vouchers for them come from leveling in DMZ: Recon and completing missions.

Contracts, Safes and Bosses

Contracts are your main income beyond loot. They ask you to hunt enemy squads, crack safes, destroy Atlas Corp. materials, take out high-value targets or gather intel. You do not have to finish a contract to exfil, so drop one if the area gets too hot.

Safes and vaults use a lock-picking minigame. Larger safes trigger an alarm that nearby players can hear, and heavy AI hostiles often guard them, so crack them with your squad covering the doors.

The AI you meet includes regular infantry, Rocketeers, Flametroopers and Snipers. Close the distance on Snipers and keep your distance from Flametroopers.

Each map has a boss worth planning around:

• Kui Ji: can use a finishing move that eliminates you instantly, and drops a rare reward you can send to your Warehouse if you extract
• The Tank: a heavily armored robot on wheels, best fought from range or near cover with plenty of ammo
• The Chemist: new in Season 10, found in Verdansk's radiation zone

Bosses stay close to fixed spawn points and give a mini-map warning when you get near, so you can decide whether to fight before you are committed.

How to Extract in DMZ: Recon

Extraction is where most runs are won or lost. The mode has several exfil types:

• Normal exfil: marked by green smoke. Stand nearby until the timer ends. It is not a safe zone, so enemies can still eliminate you during the countdown
• Random exfil: works like a normal exfil but can appear anywhere on the map
• Payment exfil: costs cash, and it uses the cash your Operator is carrying, not your Warehouse balance
• Boat exfil: activate the terminal, then reach the boat before the timer runs out. It sits in a dangerous area
• Train exfil: use the terminal, head upstairs and board the arriving train
• Elevator exfil (Building 21 only): press the call button and defend the spot during the countdown

Watch the radiation. As the cloud spreads, it deletes any exfil it reaches, and a Gas Mask does not stop that from happening. Plan your route out early instead of chasing one more crate.

Tips for Surviving Your Runs

• Pick fights you are geared for. Losing a run costs your loadout, so walking away is often the better trade
• Spotting is enough to stay alive. You do not need to win every fight, just know where enemies are
• Clear the map in sections and keep cover nearby instead of crossing open ground
• Allies exist. Other squads sometimes cooperate through emotes or nods, though it is never guaranteed
• Bank your cash and valuables early. Selling extracted loot funds Black Market gear, Buy Station plates and ammo, and payment exfils

Long-term mission progress also unlocks Reactive Camos that work across every Call of Duty: Mobile mode, so regular DMZ: Recon runs pay off outside the mode too.

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