Building 21 inactive in DMZ? Here’s why

Seems like Call of Duty may be taking a page out of Destiny's playbook.
An underground research facility with trees in Building 21 in DMZ.
Image via Activision

Call of Duty’s DMZ mode has found a following in its first couple of months since release, and new content updates like the mysterious Building 21 have players hungry for more content throughout the year.

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Infinity Ward has been very secretive with Building 21 since its inception. In fact, many would say the company has been overly secretive, but the secrets are starting to be unveiled each week when players drop in.

Often, however, players are finding that Building 21 is completely inaccessible whether they have an access key or not. And since the developer is so tight-lipped about the DMZ location, many players have been literally and figuratively left in the dark about why they can’t play it.

Here’s the skinny on what DMZ players can expect on when Building 21 is available.

Why is Building 21 inactive in CoD DMZ?

Image via Activision

There’s nothing worse than trying to squad up for some DMZ games and trying to nab some of Building 21’s sweet, sweet loot only to find out that it’s not currently available in-game.

It’s pretty annoying to not be able to access everything you would like to play in CoD at any given time. The same issue pops up with multiplayer playlists in MW2 or specific battle royale playlists in Warzone 2 rotating in and out of the game. DMZ is the same way.

Related: How to get Building 21 keycards in DMZ

Except when it comes to DMZ, there is a specific time frame when Building 21 is available. Players began to notice the trend of Building 21’s weekend availability within a couple of weeks, and although Infinity Ward or Activision haven’t explicitly stated it, Building 21 is only accessible on weekends.

Each weekend, Infinity Ward’s Twitter account posts when Building 21 is available and when it’s no longer accessible. Each time, the tweets have been posted on Friday and Monday, respectively, meaning that Building 21 opens up on Friday and is gone again on Monday afternoon.

This simply means that Building 21 is inaccessible from Monday afternoon until Friday afternoon, making it a weekend-exclusive location. Destiny 2 does something similar with its Trials of Osiris competitive playlist.

Unlike in Warzone 2 or MW2, however, players can take solace in the fact that they know exactly when Building 21 is playable. Multiplayer and BR playlists are seemingly way more random when they become available or not.

DMZ players should probably save up their best gear for the weekends and head into Building 21 each Friday, but get everything done before Monday comes or be forced to wait several days again.


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Author
Scott Duwe
Staff Writer & Call of Duty lead. Professional writer for over 10 years. Lover of all things Marvel, Destiny 2, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, and more. Previous bylines include PC Gamer, Red Bull Esports, Fanbyte, and Esports Nation. DogDad to Yogi the Corgi, sports fan (NY Yankees, NY Jets, NY Rangers, NY Knicks), Paramore fanatic, cardio enthusiast.