Death Penalty Explained: What You Lose When You Die

The penalty for death is losing all the items you have equipped in Zombies mode of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (MW3). Continue reading to learn what items you lose when you die and how to retrieve them.

Death Penalty Explained

All Contraband Weapons

Any Contraband Weapon that you have equipped, whether if it is in your Primary or Secondary slot, will be lost if you die during your run in zombies. All weapons that you pick up and successfully exfil are considered Contraband Weapons.

Contraband Weapons are the weapons in your stash—those you acquired in the field and brought back to the lobby. They differ from Insured Weapons, which can be unlocked by raising your level or by successfully bringing home contraband weapons.

Insured Weapon Cooldown

If you are carrying an Insured Weapon and not a Contraband Weapon, this weapon will be saved and placed under a one-hour cooldown. This means that if you want to play again, you will be forced to use your Contraband Weapons or play the game with the free loadout, which only includes the pistol.

Tactical Items

The Tactical Items you have equipped, whether they are selected from the loadout screen or picked up during your zombies run, will also be lost.

Rucksack Items

All items stored in your Rucksack, including tools that you can sell, extra plates, and extra Tactical Items, will all be lost.

Operator Gears

Gear equipped on your Operator, including Vests, Rucksack, Gas Mask, and Self-Revive, will be lost if you die during a zombies run.

If you lack confidence in surviving the next run, consider switching operators in the loadout screen to one without any equipped gear to save your gear on a different run.

Bonus XP Loss

All the bonus XP that you can get from activities, kills, and contracts will all be lost since you are not able to succesfully exfil.

How to Retrieve Items After Death

Only Available If You Used Tombstone Soda

Tombstone Soda marks the location of your grave on the Tac Map if you died during your last game. This allows you to retrieve all the items you were carrying by interacting with your dead body from the previous game.

Keep in mind that the marker will only last for one game. If you die again while trying to retrieve the body, all your items will be lost forever.

List of All Zombies Perks

Plea for Help

When your entire squad dies and you bleed out after being downed, you can Plea for Help to ping nearby players, giving you a chance to be revived if other players decide to help you until the time runs out.

If you manage to get revived by other players and successfully exfil during this run, you will be able to save your items back to the loadout screen.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) Related Guides

Zombies Mode Walkthrough and Guide

All Zombies Guides

Other Zombies Guides