WARDOGS Control Zone and Hot Zone
30-second ticks, double-count Hot Zone math, tower codes, and why fights outside the circle are a hobby.
The only mode
Official servers run one loop. A 2×2 km Control Zone is placed somewhere on the 256 km² map. The team with the most players inside it earns a point on a 30-second cycle. First to 100 wins. A firefight can last longer than a tick — which is why a small group that stays in the dirt outscores a larger group winning duels just outside it.
Hot Zone math
The Hot Zone is a shifting sub-area. While you stand in it, your body counts twice toward the faction total and your teamplay cash doubles. Example: they have 20 in the Control Zone, you have 17. Put 4 of yours in the Hot Zone (those 4 count as 8) and you sit at 21 effective. You take the tick. BULKHEAD called this match-swinging for a reason.
Towers and Drill Rigs
Three to five towers on the battlefield. Capture a terminal, get a digit, complete the sequence, pull the Hot Zone toward a tower you hold. Type digits in chat as you get them. A supplied FOB can also run a Drill Rig to pull the zone onto a prepared position — that is an invitation to be attacked, so fuel and defense are not optional.
What does not score
A 20-kill streak on the valley road with nobody in the circle is content. Artillery that never walks in is content. A ghillie on a ridge that never counts as a body is content. Convert the fight into occupancy before the bar fills.
No rank ladder
Launch Early Access is not a battle-royale ranked grind. You win the match in front of you. Community servers (improved in Patch 0.11, 14 September 2026) are for organized rules; Official is the chaotic default. Join the browser your squad actually named.