Warzone Drone Labs Guide (S5 2026): Loot, JLTV & Farming

Drone Labs, explained in one line

Drone Labs is the new Season 5 Verdansk POI, and it's the single best dense-loot drop on the map right now if you can survive the crowd. Warzone Season 5 expands Verdansk with Drone Labs, a new point of interest located east of TV Station and south of Quarry, and the facility manufactures Supply Drones that fly across Verdansk carrying valuable loot. It went live with the July 23, 2026 season launch, and it's already one of the most contested spots on the map.

This is a full drop-and-farm guide: where it is, what's inside, how to unlock the Armed JLTV, and how to use the new Lockdown mode to learn the layout before you get punished in real BR.

If you want fast loot and don't mind a fight, Drone Labs is the highest-value early drop in Verdansk this season.

Where it is and what's inside

Verdict: two loot-stuffed buildings, an obstacle course, and a locked super-vehicle. Land smart.

Tucked between the TV Station and the Quarry, this complex features two multi-story structures — the Administrative Offices and the R&D wing — both packed with dense loot; there's also a chaotic close-quarters outdoor arena filled with ziplines, launch pads, and flying supply drones, plus a secure bunker housing a heavily armoured, turret-mounted JLTV. The two primary buildings connect in a way that rewards vertical play. The two primary buildings are connected via a Skybridge and Zipline with multiple interior levels and accessible rooftops, and high-value loot is available throughout the facility.

Finding it is trivial. Drone Labs sits near the quarry on Verdansk, marked directly on the map so you don't have to guess; it shows up as an orange cash zone, so you land near the quarry, follow the marker, and you'll be looking at the garage within a minute of touching down.

The Supply Drone loot change — read this before you land

Verdict: some of the good loot is now airborne. Bring a gun and look up.

Season 5 didn't just add a building — it moved part of Verdansk's loot economy into the sky. A portion of loot that previously spawned on the ground is now delivered by Supply Drones: roughly 40% of Legendary Supply Box loot and about 15% of Reusable Supply Box loot. If a POI feels light on ground loot compared to last season, that's why.

Buy Stations changed too. The initial deployment delivers about 50% of Buy Stations, with additional waves gradually deploying the rest to their locations; players can shoot them down to access Buy Stations before they reach their destination, and destroying airborne Buy Stations grants additional rewards. One caveat for competitive players: this feature is disabled in Ranked Play.

Shooting down drones and airborne Buy Stations is now a legit early-game strategy — free legendary loot and early plates if your squad reacts fast.

How to unlock the Armed JLTV

Verdict: it's a side quest, it resets every match, and the payoff is a turret truck.

The garage vehicle is the headline reward inside Drone Labs. Drone Labs houses a rare Armed JLTV locked inside a secure garage, and you must locate the required access codes to unlock the vehicle and use its heavy firepower during matches. The official notes confirm it's exclusive to the POI: a unique Armed JLTV vehicle that can only be obtained at the Drone Labs.

The steps community players have mapped out so far:

• Grab a recon drone. First thing you need is a recon drone; it spawns as ground loot in crates around the Drone Labs site, so a quick loot pass through the building usually turns one up.
• Open the grate. Next, find the vent or grate on the ground floor and shoot it open — this resets every match, so you cannot skip it or rely on a previous session.
• Hack the console. Squads must hack the central console in the R&D wing to open the garage and claim this vehicle.

Everything resets per match. There's no permanent unlock here — every game you want the JLTV, you run the quest again. Plan it around your rotation, not the other way round.

Use Lockdown mode to learn the layout for free

Verdict: the training-wheels mode. Ugly, chaotic, and genuinely useful.

Raven built a whole LTM around this POI so you can memorise it without dying to a stack in Solos. Lockdown Casual is Warzone's Season 5 hardpoint mode dropped straight into the new Drone Labs POI on Verdansk: up to 24 players split into 3 player squads and 3 bot squads fight to capture and hold rotating zones, everyone respawns nonstop with a random killstreak already equipped including the Juggernaut, and if you die you get a prize anyway.

Don't camp. Objective zones relocate across several sections of Drone Labs, so sitting still and hoping the point comes to you is a losing strategy. The point of the mode is stated plainly by the devs — it's a mode set in Verdansk made to help players learn the new Drone Labs POI, where you spawn with your custom loadouts, respawn throughout the match, and gain access to powerful killstreaks, plus exclusive challenges that reward a weapon charm, spray, and animated calling card.

Run a few Lockdown matches before you drop Drone Labs in real BR — the players who know every zipline and rooftop win the third-party fights.

Farming loot and XP at Drone Labs

Verdict: pair the dense loot with contracts and a Double XP token and it doubles as a weapon-leveling spot.

Drone Labs is loot-dense, which makes it a strong contract hub. Stack objectives before rotating. Completing Bounty, Scavenger, or Recon contracts grants large bursts of XP, weapon progress, and cash for gear upgrades, so stack multiple contracts in one area before rotating to maximize your XP per minute. Season 5 also adds a contract built to break camping: a new contract forces squads out of passive positions — to complete the Satellite Hijack contract, your squad must locate a fallen satellite beacon and capture the uplink.

Two things that stack your weapon XP hard:

• Hold the gun you're leveling. Before entering, equip the weapon you intend to level up — all XP gained while holding that weapon contributes to it, and even if you're not firing, having it in hand during XP-gaining actions like opening supply crates or completing contracts funnels points into it.
• Use a respawn mode. The fastest way to level up in Warzone is to grind weapon XP in a respawn mode with a Double Weapon XP Token active, retrieving the gun you want to level via a Loadout Marker and stacking Contracts for bonus XP.

Remember progression is shared, so every kill here pays off everywhere. Black Ops 7 and Warzone run on one unified, global progression system — a weapon you level in Warzone is the same level in BO7 Multiplayer and Zombies, and vice versa. If you're chasing camo challenges alongside XP, our ultimate camo unlock guide breaks down the full grind.

Common mistakes

• Hot-dropping Drone Labs solo. It's one of the most contested spots on the map — expect three or four squads. Go in with a plan or land the edges and loot inward.
• Ignoring the sky. With ~40% of legendary loot now airborne, players who don't shoot drones down are leaving free gear on the table.
• Forgetting the JLTV resets. No permanent unlock. If you want it, budget the quest into every match.
• Grinding without a token. Loot-dense POIs are wasted if you're not holding the right gun with Double XP active.

Running Drone Labs for camo progress means dozens of drops, resets, and third-party fights just to chip away at one weapon's challenge. If you'd rather skip the sweat, our BO7 Apocalypse camo servicefrom $0.40 completes the challenge for you so the reward is done while you play the maps you actually enjoy.