COD MW4 Mission List: All 16 Campaign Missions and Collectibles Guide
Full COD MW4 mission list covering all 16 campaign missions, every collectible note, 26 yellow supply crates, keypad codes, and difficulty unlocks.
Why the COD MW4 Mission List Matters Before You Deploy
If you're diving into the Korean Peninsula campaign, knowing the full COD MW4 mission list before you start changes how you play. You'll know exactly which missions hide collectibles, where the open-world detour sits, and how long the road to the finale really is. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 packs 16 campaign missions into its story, and three of them are loaded with missable notes. Without a proper COD MW4 mission list in front of you, it's easy to blow past a keypad code or a yellow crate and never realize it until the credits roll.
This guide breaks down every mission in order, flags the collectible hotspots, and gives you the practical details — codes, crate counts, and difficulty unlocks — so you can finish the campaign with a clean checklist. Whether you're chasing achievements or just want the story roadmap, this is your one-stop reference.
The Complete COD MW4 Mission List in Order
Here's the full campaign sequence. The COD MW4 mission list below follows the story from the opening patrol in Hajin to the final confrontation at the Russian border. Descriptions are paraphrased from official walkthrough coverage.
| # | Mission | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mayhem | A joint ROK and US Marine squad patrols Hajin as Korean Peninsula tensions boil over |
| 2 | Out in the Cold | Kate Laswell reactivates a former asset in New York to track a rising threat |
| 3 | Following Orders | Special Forces hunt a defector during a North Korean power transition |
| 4 | Hired Gun | Price helps Valeria smuggle a package in exchange for the Archer |
| 5 | Losing Ground | The North Korean invasion floods Hajin as allied forces dig in |
| 6 | Traffic | A Paris meetup collapses into a cartel warzone |
| 7 | Gone Dark | Price and Valeria reach Mumbai to hand off the package |
| 8 | Assassins | Internal attackers move against the new Supreme Leader |
| 9 | Survivors | Sierra-1 joins a covert raid into North Korea |
| 10 | Stranded | Sierra-1 and Special Forces survive behind enemy lines in an open-world mission |
| 11 | Defection | Sierra-1 assaults a North Korean airbase with Lt. Ko Jin-Hyuk |
| 12 | Counter Attack | Allied forces launch a massive push to retake Hajin City |
| 13 | Escape | Price fights to break out of the Archer's prison |
| 14 | Entrenched | US and ROK marines storm a regime-held power plant |
| 15 | Decapitation | An off-the-books strike into North Korea aims to end the war |
| 16 | Greater Good | The Archer heads for the Russian border with Price and the weapon |
That's the skeleton of the COD MW4 mission list — but the real value is knowing where the campaign hides its extras. Mission 3, Mission 10, and Mission 13 are the three collectible-heavy chapters, and Mission 10 alone accounts for the bulk of the grind.
Which Missions Hide Collectibles?
Modern Warfare 4 ditched the classic intel system. Instead, it spreads 64 collectible notes across three missions and drops 26 yellow supply crates into the open-world Mission 10, Stranded. If you're working through the COD MW4 mission list with completion in mind, these are the chapters to slow down for.
| Mission | Collectibles | Achievements Tied In |
|---|---|---|
| Following Orders (Mission 3) | 4 contraband items + 4 notes | No Stone Unturned |
| Stranded (Mission 10) | 58 notes + 26 yellow crates | Time to Create, Noteworthy |
| Escape (Mission 13) | 2 notes + Gaz's dog tags | Never Forgotten |
A quick word on note numbering: community reports confirm the notes in Stranded aren't fixed to specific spots. The counter simply tracks the order you pick them up, so "Note 12" is just whichever note you grabbed twelfth. That means you can't use the in-game number to verify you found a specific one — you'll need to track locations yourself or follow a route guide.
Following Orders: The First Collectible Stop
Mission 3 is where the COD MW4 mission list first asks you to look around instead of just shooting. You're hunting a defector across a residential neighborhood, and four pieces of contraband plus four notes are tucked into the homes.
The key sequence, per player experience:
- Contraband 1: MP3 player in the bathroom cabinet of the first home
- Contraband 2: Western novel in the sliding-door cabinet
- Contraband 3: Extra rations behind the second set of white kitchen doors
- Note 1 (recipe): Behind the left kitchen door — the recipe hints at the toolbox code
- Toolbox code: Enter 214 (the recipe says to skip the salt, which removes the 5)
- Contraband 4: Medicine inside the unlocked toolbox
Once you've got all four contraband items and both notes, talk to the man in the house. Dialogue choices don't matter here. From there, move to the third home for the neighbor's note, grab the cabinet key, and unlock the kitchen door to find the hidden woman. Choose "Please come outside with me," then "No, we're going outside" to force her out. Crouch to read the final note and pop the No Stone Unturned achievement.
Stranded: The Biggest Chapter on the COD MW4 Mission List
Mission 10 is the reason this COD MW4 mission list guide exists. Stranded is an open-world survival chapter with three main objectives and a staggering amount of optional loot: 58 notes and 26 yellow supply crates. Two achievements live here — Time to Create (open all 26 crates) and Noteworthy (read 50 notes).
When Cal asks whether you want to forge your own path or fast travel to the objective, choose to find your own path. Fast-traveling locks you out of free exploration and can cost you collectibles.
Keypad Codes You'll Need in Stranded
Several crates are locked behind keypad puzzles. Here are the codes confirmed by walkthrough sources, along with the logic behind each:
| Location | Code | How It's Solved |
|---|---|---|
| Base Camp cargo container | 0024 | Each prior code adds 6 |
| Island hidden bunker | 0008 | Sum of river infantry checkpoint numbers |
| Southeast village container | 0078 | Each code adds 22 |
| South of Jamming Station | 8609 | First digit +1, second −1, last two +2 |
| Cliff near Base Camp | 0600 | First digit −3, second +1, last two stay 00 |
| Big Sign container | 1234 | Pattern adds a digit each step (112123 → 1234) |
| Farm field hidden bunker | 0330 | Sum of logistics stations 100 + 200 + 10 + 20 |
| Small island container | 6789 | Straight sequence |
Practical Tips for Clearing Stranded
- Clear every outpost first. Guardhouses hold a yellow crate in almost every case, and clearing the zone is usually required before you can enter.
- Watch for the train. One crate sits on the front car — wait by the water tower until it rolls past.
- Check trucks. Crate 23 spawns in a truck that patrols near Infantry Checkpoint 3.
- Repair gear at base camp. Notes 54–58 come from repairing the grenade launcher, tactical gloves, tactical boots, ghillie suit, and suppressor.
- Don't skip the sewer puzzles. Two symbol-pattern mazes guard notes 7 and 8 plus a crate. Follow the shapes, not the arrows.
Once all 58 notes and 26 crates are banked, talk to Cal to wrap the mission. For a deeper dive into the full campaign structure, the official Call of Duty website is the best place to confirm patch notes and title updates.
Escape: The Final Two Notes and Gaz's Dog Tags
Mission 13 closes out the collectible hunt on the COD MW4 mission list. After you pass cell 40, take a left into the office for the first note — a confiscation protocol reminder. Later, when a guard leaves his post, go prone, wait him out, then slip into the back office for the second note containing an updated code.
That code, 8410, opens the safe in the barracks office. Inside are Gaz's dog tags, which unlock the Never Forgotten achievement. Ghost's line — "We're not leaving here without Gaz" — is your cue that you're in the right room.
Difficulty Options and Replay Value
The COD MW4 mission list stays identical across difficulties, but the challenge scales hard. Here's how the six tiers stack up:
| Difficulty | How to Unlock |
|---|---|
| Recruit | Available from the start |
| Regular | Available from the start |
| Hardened | Available from the start |
| Veteran | Available from the start |
| Realism | Beat the campaign on any difficulty |
| YOLO | Beat the campaign on Realism |
If you're planning a collectible cleanup run, knock it out on Recruit or Regular first — the notes and crates don't change, and you'll spend far less time dying in the sewers. Save Realism and YOLO for a victory-lap playthrough once your checklist is complete.
FAQ: COD MW4 Mission List
How many missions are in the COD MW4 mission list? There are 16 campaign missions, running from Mayhem through Greater Good. Three of them — Following Orders, Stranded, and Escape — contain collectibles.
How many collectibles are in Modern Warfare 4? The game has 64 collectible notes spread across three missions plus 26 yellow supply crates in Mission 10, Stranded. Stranded alone holds 58 of the notes.
Do I need to find every note for the achievements? Not all of them. Noteworthy only requires reading 50 notes, so grabbing the four in Following Orders can push you over the line if you've cleared most of Stranded. Time to Create does require all 26 crates, though.
Can I replay missions to grab missed collectibles? Yes — mission select lets you revisit chapters, and collectibles you've already picked up stay collected. That makes the COD MW4 mission list a handy reference for a second pass if you missed a keypad code the first time.
Final Thoughts on the COD MW4 Mission List
Working from a complete COD MW4 mission list turns a chaotic campaign into a manageable checklist. The story runs 16 missions deep, but only three chapters demand real scavenger hunting — and Mission 10 does most of the heavy lifting. Clear Stranded methodically, bank those keypad codes, and save the harder difficulties for after your collectibles are locked in. Do that, and you'll walk away with every achievement the campaign offers.
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