What can you do as a free member?

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and unlock all our premium features and tools to enhance your gaming experience.

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and save articles to your watchlist and get notified when they're updated with new information.

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and save your favorite games for quick access later, synced across all your devices.

Member benefits illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you'll receive instant notifications when someone replies to your posts.

Comment rating feature illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you can make use of convenient features in the comments section, such as rating and sorting comments.

Premium archive feature illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you can access Premium articles that are exclusively available to members.

Site Interface

Guest
Free Member
Article Watchlist
Game Bookmarks
Cross-device Sync
Light/Dark Theme Toggle
User Profiles
Direct Feedback
Comment Rating

Game Tools

Guest
Free Member
Interactive Map Access
Interactive Map Pins
Interactive Map Comments
Interactive Map Pins Cross-Device
Check List
Event Choice Checker
Deck Builder Cross-Device
Message Board Notification
Message Board Cross-Device
Build Planner
Stat Calculator
Diagnostic Tool
Weapon/Armor Wishlist

Want more information?Learn more

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (MW3)

How to Get Armor Plates

Add to Watchlist

★ S6 New Guns: DTIR 30-06 | Kastov LSW
☆ S5 Reloaded Dark Aether Keys and Locations
★ Mr. Peeks | Drum | Locked Diary | Giraffe Toy
☆ Final MWZ Story Mission: Ascension Walkthrough
★ Zombies Map | Dark Aether Interactive Map
☆ Rarity vs Pack-a-Punch Damage Chart

Modern Warfare 3 - How to Get Armor Plates

Armor Plates increase your defense and strengthen your ability to withstand attacks from enemies in Zombies mode of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (MW3). Learn how to get Armor Plates and how to use them!

List of Contents

How to Get Armor Plates

Where to Find Armor Plates
1. Purchase from Buy Stations (Repeatable)
2. Dropped by Mercenaries (Repeatable; Very High Drop Rate)
3. Found in Loot Caches (Repeatable; High Drop Rate)

Purchase from Buy Stations

Modern Warfare 3 - Buy Stations Map Icon

You can purchase Armor Plates for 150 Essence each from Buy Stations in all Threat Zones. These Buy Stations are located in different places across Urzikstan and are marked with a shopping cart icon on your Tac-Map.

All Buy Station Locations

Dropped by Mercenaries

Modern Warfare 3 - Kill Mercenaries for Armor Plates

Mercenaries will often drop Armor Plates on death and killing them is a great way to farm a lot of free Armor Plates. You can find them in Mercenary Camps, Mercenary Strongholds, or Mercenary Convoys roaming around the map.

Found in Loot Caches

Modern Warfare 3 - Loot Caches

Armor Plates are also commonly found in Loot Caches while exploring around. You will automatically pick these up and they'll go straight to your inventory whenever you find them in Loot Caches.

Where to Find Loot Caches

How to Use Armor Plates

Hold Y, Triangle, or G Key

Platform Default Button / Key
Xbox XBOX - Y Button
PlayStation PS4 - Triangle Button
PC G

To put on Armor Plates, hold the Y button for Xbox, Triangle for PlayStation, or the G Key for PC.

Holding the respective buttons will continuously equip Armor Plates until you've filled up all armor slots available depending on the type of Armor Vest you are wearing.

Can Carry Up to 3 in a Stack

Armor Plates can be carried in stacks of 3, which takes up a single Rucksack inventory slot. You may have to drop other items to free up inventory space if you're planning to stock up on a huge supply of Armor Plates.

Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) Related Guides

Modern Warfare 3 - Zombies Game Mode

Zombies Mode Walkthrough and Guide

All Zombies Guides

Zombies Guides and Lists
Zombies Missions Zombies Season 2
Zombies Season 1 Zombies Map
Zombies Weapons Crafting Schematics
Aetherium Challenges and Enemies
Zombies Perks Zombies Ammo Mods
Zombies Field Upgrades Zombies Gear
Contracts Zombies Power-Ups

All Zombies Gear

All Zombies Gear
Self-Revive Kit 3-Plate Armor Vest
Large Rucksack Sentry Gun
Cymbal Monkey Gas Mask
LT53 Kazimir Precision Airstrike
Juggernaut Mortar Strike
Cluster Mine Armor Plates
Gold Skull Chunks of Flesh
What Items Can You Exfil? How to Sell Items

Comment

Post (0 Comments)

Author

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) Walkthrough Team
This article was created by Game8's elite team of writers and gamers.
    Leave feedback(Login required)
    Please participate in our site
    improvement survey
    12/2025
    Would you assist in
    improving Game8's site?
    ×
    This survey will take about 1 minute.
    Your answers will help us to improve our website.
    We are listening to our users' valuable opinions and discussing how to act on them.
    The information collected through this survey will be used for the purpose of improving our services. In addition, the information will only be disclosed a part of a statistic in a format that will not allow identification of personal information.
    Begin Survey
    Not Now
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Advertisements.
    Amount of Ads
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Placement of Ads
    Timing of Ad Display
    Ad Loading Speed
    Safeness of Ads
    Content of Ads
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Quality of Articles.
    Amount of information
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Frequency of updates
    Speed of new information
    Accuracy of articles
    Understandibility of articles
    Readability of sentences
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Usability of the Site.
    Ease of finding information
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Loading Speed
    Use of Color
    Font Size
    Visibility of Images
    Easy to Understand Layout
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Message Boards, Comments.
    Ease of Writing
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Readability
    Ease in Finding Information
    Comment Quality
    Comment Quantity
    Admin Response
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Site's new design.
    Please rate our site's new design
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Do you think that the website's design change makes the site easier to use?
    Has the new design made it easier for you to find information on the site?
    Has the new design improved the overall visual appeal of the site?
    How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the new design of the site?
    ×
    How likely are you to recommend Game8 to someone you know?
    Very Unlikely
    0
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10
    Very Likely
    If you have other opinions regarding potential improvement to the website, please share them with us. We would appreciate your honest opinion.
    Note: This is a free response section, so you can proceed without entering anything.
    Note: Please be sure not to enter any kind of personal information into your response.
    ×
    Thank You
    ×
    Thank you for participating in our survey! Your answers will help us to improve the quality of our website and services.
    We hope you continue to make use of Game8.
    Close
    For other opinions or comments, go here.

    Rankings

    Popular Articles
    Message Board
    • We could not find the message board you were looking for.

    Gaming News

    Tides of Annihilation Gameplay Trailer Deep Dive: Dual Frontline System & More Analyzed

    Tides of Annihilation Gameplay Trailer Deep Dive: Dual Fr...

    Popular Games

    Recommended Games

    All rights reserved

    © 2023 Activision Publishing, Inc. ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY, MODERN WARFARE, and CALL OF DUTY WARZONE are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.

    The copyrights of videos of games used in our content and other intellectual property rights belong to the provider of the game.
    The contents we provide on this site were created personally by members of the Game8 editorial department.
    We refuse the right to reuse or repost content taken without our permission such as data or images to other sites.

    Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) Walkthrough & Guides Wiki

    Quick Access
    Guide Index

    Current Season Guides and News

    Zombies Guides

    Zombies Season 5 Content

    Zombies Season 4 Content

    Zombies Season 3 Content

    Zombies Season 2 Content

    Zombies Season 1 Content

    Recommended Zombies Guides

    Zombies Guns and Weapon Guides

    Zombies Map Guides

    Zombies Enemy Guides

    Camos

    Campaign

    Campaign Walkthroughs

    Campaign Guides

    Tips and Tricks

    Challenges

    Leveling Guides

    Settings Guides

    FAQs and Other Guides

    Multiplayer Modes

    Achievements

    Guns and Weapons

    Attachments

    Equipment

    Perks

    Operators

    Store Bundles

    Battle Pass

    Calling Cards

    Blueprints

    Emblems

    Charms

    Loading Screens

    Stickers and Large Decals

    Characters

    Seasons

    Bugs and Errors

    News and Updates

    Latest News

    Promotions

    Updates and Patch Notes

    COD Next Oct 2023 News

    Past Events

    Pre-Release News

    Other Call of Duty Wikis