WARDOGS is one game mode, and the developers describe it in a single paragraph: three teams fight for control of a randomised 2 × 2 km Control Zone inside a larger map, the team with the most players in the zone scores, and the first team to 100 points wins (Steam store page, read 1 October 2026). That paragraph settles the scoring and leaves the match length, the tie rule and the team size unstated — so this page prints what is official, and files the rest where it belongs.
Use the WARDOGS coordinate grid and Control Zone tool to place the objective and copy a grid reference for your squad.
The rules, in Valve's own sentence
This is the mode paragraph on the store page, printed whole rather than paraphrased, because every clause in it is doing work:
"The game mode - Inspired by 'King of the Hill' - has three teams fight for control of randomized 2x2km 'Control Zones' within larger maps. The team with the most players within the Control Zone earns points - the first team to reach 100 points wins the match. The variables in zone location and individual player tactics mean no match ever plays out the same." (Steam store page, read 1 October 2026)
Four things are settled by it. There is one objective, and it moves: the zone is randomised per match. Scoring is occupancy, so standing in the right place is the whole game. The finish line is 100 points and it belongs to a team, not a player. And the mode is stated as inspired by King of the Hill, which is how the studio describes the lineage everywhere, including on the announcement feed.
Three things are not settled by it, and no Valve surface settles them later: how long a match runs, what happens if two teams would reach 100 together, and how large a team is. The store page says "up to 100-player" about the game, not about a team.
What the store page leaves on the cutting-room floor
The studio published a longer version of the same explanation as a post on Valve's own announcement feed, dated 18 February 2026 and still the fullest official description of the mode (official Steam announcement feed, read 1 October 2026). It adds four things the store paragraph omits:
- The Hot Zone pays double, twice over. In the studio's wording: "a shifting sub-zone within the larger 'Control Zone'. Players count as double towards their player count — leading to match-swinging potential. The 'Hot Zone' also yields DOUBLE CASH!"
- The map is 256 km². The same post sizes the battlefield that the 2 × 2 km zone is cut out of.
- The three teams have names and a setting. LONESTAR, VALKYRA and MANTICORE, fighting over a rare resource called PV-1 in a region the studio calls Kolchia.
- Squad size is unlimited. "Unlimited! No friend is left behind. Squadding up provides additional UI, communication tools, and vehicle locking for better coordination."
An announcement is a weaker surface than a store page in one direction and a stronger one in another: it is the studio speaking in its own voice, but it is also dated marketing, written seven months before launch. Anything on this page that comes only from that post is labelled as such below.
The mode has a parent, and the studio says so out loud
On 19 February 2026 the same feed carried a short post titled around the King of the Hill mod, and its one factual sentence is the only official account of where this mode comes from: "Our Design Team has spent years collaborating directly with the original ARMA mod creators. Developing a standalone KOTH-inspired FPS that can surpass the original mod's limitations." (official Steam announcement feed, read 1 October 2026)
That is worth more than trivia. It explains why the mode is scored on occupancy in a moving zone instead of on captures or rounds, why three factions fight over one objective rather than two teams over several, and why the studio keeps describing the goal as a sandbox rather than a match format. The lineage itself is well known — wardogshub.gg states it as a confirmed fact on its "what is WARDOGS" page (wardogshub.gg, read 1 October 2026) — but the sentence, and what is in it, is the studio's own and is not quoted on any of the three sites.
Infantry Mode and Low Level are modifiers, not modes
Two names circulate that look like extra modes. Both are server settings, and Valve's own patch notes for update 0.1.2 are where that is written down. The patch rebuilt the deploy screen so that, in the notes' words, you "choose Official, Community, Infantry Mode or Low-Level servers", and it describes the screen as "the first step intended to help signpost players toward servers running these modifiers" (official Steam announcement feed, 30 September 2026, read 1 October 2026).
Read that carefully, because it changes what you can expect. A modifier changes how the one mode plays on that server — the deploy screen exists to tell you which servers are running one. It does not carry its own scoring rules, its own objective, or its own win condition, and nothing in the notes gives either modifier a points value. If you are searching for "WARDOGS game modes", this is the answer to the confusion: one mode, several server types.
What the mode is lined up to become
The earlier official statements describe the direction of development, without naming a new mode:
- The store page's Early Access notes list what the full version is planned to add — "new vehicle types including fighter jets, expanded weapon categories, additional objective variations, and continued improvements to the core WARDOGS experience" (Steam store page, read 1 October 2026). "Additional objective variations" is the closest thing to a promise of new mode content that exists, and it is not a mode list.
- The update 0.1.2 notes describe the next season: "Season 02 is planned to be a larger content update, with new map conditions, equipment, balance reworks and additional features" (official Steam announcement feed, 30 September 2026, read 1 October 2026). The studio dated Season 02 to 15 October 2026 in a teaser post on 22 September.
So the honest reading of the mode's future is: the objective stays, the conditions around it change. "New map conditions" is a change to the mode's ingredients, not a second recipe.
Season 02 patch notes: maintenance 08:00–09:30 UTC on 15 October
official patch notes The studio's Season 02 Patch Notes say maintenance runs from 08:00 to 09:30 UTC on 15 October 2026, with roughly 90 minutes of downtime before the season goes live (read 15 October 2026). This replaces the earlier preview's “full patch notes … early next week” status; it is an Early Access season update, not a full-release date.
official live status Season 02 is now live. The studio announced that it released Update 0.2.0 and that servers were back online; its developer-pinned Steam discussion separately says “Season 02 is now live” at 10:00 UTC after the maintenance extension (the official live announcement and developer-pinned update, read 16 October 2026). This confirms the published update and the studio's reported server return; it is not a promise of a separate live-status service.
- Four weapons: TCX Spear assault rifle, M14 DMR, PP-19 Bizon SMG and Evo-3 Ultra LMG, supported by new attachments.
- A Molotov throwable: an incendiary that splashes fire on impact for damage and area denial, with overarm and underarm throws.
- Four vehicles: Wolf-110 light transport; Wolf-110 (Assault) with a ring-mounted M2 Browning; T-72 main battle tank, described as slower than the Leopard but cheaper and more fuel-efficient; and Flakpanzer Gepard anti-air vehicle.
- Three buildables: MG Nest with a manned M2 Browning, Large Shelter and Wooden Step.
- A rain weather preset: changes to visibility, engagement ranges and sound, with rain interacting with damaged and destroyed structures. Server-synchronised thunder can temporarily mask footsteps.
- A Wager Vendor later in Season 02: an optional cash-stake feature with a tracker above the minimap. The completed patch notes explicitly say it is not available at launch, and that it is not permanent.
- Equipment and combat balance: a battery-powered Infrared Rangefinder; muffled audio, restricted field of view and sprint fogging for the Super Heavy Helmet; increased suppression resistance for Heavy and Super Heavy helmets; and adjustments to weapon damage, recoil and suppression. The preview also lists squad coordination, vehicle handling, controller responsiveness, progression, teamplay and logistics rewards, performance, bug fixes and server stability work.
- Faction changes: moved faction spawns on Bakurani and less saturated Lonestar uniforms. A vendor discount of 20% applies to any team at least 40 points behind second place, rather than to Lonestar alone. The studio warns that community hosts exploiting the faction bonus will be punished.
official backend update The studio says it has removed the Lonestar Cash & XP Bonus, fixed Driver Progression, and fixed a Driver Exploit that had let many players access tanks too early (developer-pinned backend update, read 17 October 2026). Limited Mode Servers without power weapons and vehicles are described as coming soon, not live; no date or full rules are published in that post.
The original 9 October Steam preview announced the broad content list (read 10 October 2026). The completed official patch notes, read 15 October 2026, supply the maintenance window and confirm that the Wager Vendor opens later in the season. The official live announcement and the developer-pinned update, read 16 October 2026, confirm Update 0.2.0 was released and Season 02 went live. The developer-pinned backend update, read 17 October 2026, removes the Lonestar Cash & XP Bonus, reports the Driver fixes and lists Limited Mode Servers as coming soon. For the dated milestone, see the release-date page.
What the three WARDOGS sites carry, and what this page adds
All three were swept page by page on 1 October 2026, every URL each site lists in its own sitemap, fetched and searched:
- wardogshub.gg lists 874 pages, and it is the strongest of the three here: its "what is WARDOGS" page is a properly sourced explanation of the format, covering three teams, the randomised 2 × 2 km zone, the 256 km² map, the Hot Zone's double payout and the first-to-100 win condition (wardogshub.gg, read 1 October 2026). Twenty-seven of its pages contain "King of the Hill" and five mention Infantry Mode, including its patch notes in two languages, its write-up of update 0.1.2 and its server listings. What it does not do is draw the line this page is drawn around: no page there states in one place that Infantry Mode and Low Level are server modifiers rather than modes, and none quotes the studio's own mode sentences rather than describing them.
- wardogs.site lists 27 pages. "King of the Hill" appears zero times across all of them; "Infantry Mode" appears zero times. Its gameplay page covers the opening loop, prices and zone scoring, and three of its pages mention the Hot Zone, but the mode's own description is not on the site in any form (wardogs.site, read 1 October 2026).
- wardogs.wiki is an item database with no editorial pages: its search API returns zero results across the whole wiki for "mode", "game modes", "infantry", "King of the Hill" and "Hot Zone" (wardogs.wiki API, read 1 October 2026). The category it keeps for exactly this subject, Game modes, reports zero members, zero files and zero subcategories.
What this page adds, then, is not a scoop. It is three official paragraphs put next to each other for the first time — the store copy, the studio's FAQ post and the update notes — plus the one distinction nobody writes down: what is the mode, and what is a server setting wearing a mode's name. Everything on it is either quoted from Valve or the studio, or labelled as this page's reading.
How each claim here is labelled
Every conclusion on this site sits in one of three buckets. On this page the split matters, because most of the mode is documented and the edges are not.
| Layer | What is in it |
|---|---|
| Confirmed officially | The mode and its scoring: three teams, a randomised 2 × 2 km Control Zone, points for occupancy, first team to 100 wins, inspired by King of the Hill. The Hot Zone's double cash and double head count. The three faction names. The 256 km² map. Squad size unlimited. The mode's ARMA mod lineage. Infantry Mode and Low Level as server modifiers, named in Valve's own patch notes. Season 02's 15 October date, its 08:00–09:30 UTC maintenance window, its published weapons, vehicles, buildables, rain, balance, progression and server changes, and the studio's 15 October announcement that Update 0.2.0 was released and servers were back online. |
| Observed, not officially confirmed | The reading this page puts on two things: that the 2 × 2 km zone inside a 256 km² map is what makes the objective feel random, and that "additional objective variations" is the closest thing to a promise of new mode content in anything published. Both are interpretations of the studio's words, not the studio's words. |
| Not yet confirmed | What Infantry Mode and Low Level actually change about a match: no official description of either modifier's rules exists in any page read here, only their names and their existence as server types. Whether any second mode is in development. The patch notes give the end of maintenance, but do not establish a separate public status feed or promise that every affected server will be available at that minute. |
Still not on any official record
The gaps are part of the answer here, so they are written down rather than left out:
- A match length. No timer, no round count and no average duration appears in Valve's copy, the studio's FAQ post, the Early Access notes or the patch notes.
- A tie rule. Nothing official covers what happens if teams reach 100 together, or whether a match can end with the zone uncontested.
- A per-team limit. "Up to 100-player" is a match size, and no surface breaks it into three.
- The rules behind the modifiers. "Infantry Mode" and "Low Level" are named in the deploy screen and in one patch note, and neither is defined anywhere official.
- A mode roadmap. No post promises modes by name, and no date is attached to "additional objective variations".
Common questions
How is the solo experience?
The official store describes playing as a lone wolf who helps the team as well as playing in a dedicated squad. That supports joining the online team game without a premade group; it does not describe an offline solo campaign (Steam store page, read 11 October 2026). The current Early Access description explicitly lists online multiplayer and proximity voice chat.
There are useful jobs beyond fighting alone: the same store copy says occupying the objective, reviving squadmates and transporting friendlies earn cash, and that cash persists between matches (read 11 October 2026). For a player arriving alone, those are the published ways to contribute; they are not a measured promise that teammates will coordinate, that matchmaking will be quick or that a particular server will be reliable.
Whether the solo experience is enjoyable remains a player judgement. We have not run a solo-play test for this answer, so we do not give it a score or turn individual player reports into a general verdict.
How many game modes does WARDOGS have?
One. Valve's store copy describes a single mode and does not name a second: three teams fight for control of a randomised 2 × 2 km Control Zone inside a larger map, the team with the most players in the zone scores, and the first team to 100 points wins (Steam store page, read 1 October 2026). The two names that look like extra modes, Infantry Mode and Low Level, are server modifiers, not modes — that distinction is what the section below is about.
How do you win a match in WARDOGS?
By occupancy, not by kills: the team with the most players inside the Control Zone earns points, and the first team to 100 points wins (Steam store page, read 1 October 2026). Kills pay cash and shape the fight, but nothing in the mode's own description awards points for them.
What is the Hot Zone?
A shifting sub-zone inside the Control Zone that pays double cash, and where players count double towards their team's occupancy (WARDOGS FAQ announcement, 18 February 2026, on the official Steam announcement feed, read 1 October 2026). The store page's mode paragraph does not mention it; the studio's own FAQ post does, which is why both are on this page.
Is Infantry Mode a separate game mode?
No. Valve's own patch notes for update 0.1.2 describe Infantry Mode and Low Level as server modifiers: the new Deploy flow lets you "choose Official, Community, Infantry Mode or Low-Level servers", and the notes say the screen was rebuilt to "signpost players toward servers running these modifiers" (official Steam announcement feed, 30 September 2026, read 1 October 2026). A modifier changes the rules of the one mode; it is not a second mode with its own scoring.
How long is a WARDOGS match?
Nobody official says. There is no timer in Valve's store copy, none in the studio's FAQ post, and no match-length figure in any announcement in the studio's Steam feed (Steam announcement feed, read 1 October 2026). This page files it under what is still not on the official record rather than guessing.
How many players are on each team?
Valve's copy says the game mode has three teams inside a game that takes up to 100 players, and it stops there; no per-team cap is published on the store page, and the studio's FAQ post does not give one either (Steam store page, read 1 October 2026). Read 100 as the size of the match, not the size of a team.
Will WARDOGS add more game modes?
The studio's Early Access notes name "additional objective variations" among planned additions (Steam store page, read 1 October 2026). The completed Season 02 Patch Notes list weapons, vehicles, buildables, rain, balance, progression and server changes, but do not name a second game mode (read 15 October 2026). A developer-pinned post now says Limited Mode Servers without power weapons and vehicles are "coming soon"; it does not give a date or say that they are live (official backend update, read 17 October 2026). The Wager Vendor is planned for later in the season, not launch.
Are Lonestar Cash and XP bonuses still active in WARDOGS?
No. The studio's developer-pinned backend-update post says it removed the Lonestar Cash & XP Bonus and that the Lonestar buff has now been removed (official backend update, read 17 October 2026). The same post says Driver Progression was fixed and that it fixed an exploit that let many players access tanks too early; it does not publish further balance values.
What are Community servers in WARDOGS?
The player-run half of the server list, and the studio has publicly said it launched them badly. Patch 0.11 (12 September 2026) split the front end into a Community browser and an Official browser, added text search, stopped Community server IDs wiping on every map change, and paid a 5% end-of-match cash bonus on community servers for a week by way of apology (official Steam news post, read 2 October 2026). Update 0.1.2 then put Community alongside Official, Infantry Mode and Low-Level on the deploy screen.
Is there a WARDOGS server status page?
Not from the studio, and not from Valve. The official material read for this site carries patch notes and maintenance windows but no status page, no outage feed and no live server list (read 2 October 2026). A community server directory and a server-status page exist on the third-party hub instead (wardogshub.gg, read 2 October 2026), and this page does not republish its data.
Is there a tutorial in WARDOGS?
Nothing official describes one. The closest thing in the published material is the deploy flow, which update 0.1.2 rebuilt so that picking between Official, Community, Infantry Mode and Low-Level servers is the first step (official Steam news post, 30 September 2026, read 2 October 2026). The third-party hub keeps a skip-tutorial page of its own, which is where that question is answered for this game.
What are the WARDOGS maps called?
The 9 October Season 02 preview names Bakurani: "All faction spawns have moved on Bakurani" (official Season 02 preview, read 10 October 2026). That confirms this name in the studio's own material; it does not supply a complete map list. The store copy sizes the battlefield at 256 km² and says the Control Zone is randomised inside it (read 2 October 2026). The third-party hub's interactive map and its three-map count remain community information (wardogshub.gg, read 2 October 2026).
Is there an interactive map for WARDOGS?
Not from the studio and not from Valve — no official map tool appears in the material read for this site (read 2 October 2026). The third-party hub publishes an interactive map with its own marker set, which is where that feature lives for this game; it is community work and this page does not copy it.
Can you drive a Humvee in WARDOGS?
Yes. The Season 1 changelog carries a vehicles section that moves "Humvee with minigun" to Driver level 30, alongside a rebalanced URAL list and helicopter changes (official Steam news post, 9 September 2026, read 2 October 2026). Vehicles come out of the cash you earn rather than the store page — the studio lists vehicles among the things a loadout purchase covers.
What is the URAL used for?
Transport, and the studio keeps moving it around the unlock grid: the Season 1 changelog sets the base URAL to Driver level 3, the Covered variant to 18 and the Attack variant to 25, and cuts the base URAL's vendor price from $50,000 to $35,000 (official Steam news post, 9 September 2026, read 2 October 2026). No official page publishes vehicle statistics, so those unlock levels are the only official numbers attached to the name.
Are there helicopters in WARDOGS?
Yes. The Season 1 changelog's gameplay and vehicles section rebalances the Z20 Lakota and applies helicopter input damping to every input device, and the vendor list carries an AH-6M with miniguns as a Pilot unlock (official Steam news post, 9 September 2026, read 2 October 2026). Flying is a role you pay into rather than a free asset, which is why the hub page treats transport as part of the economy.
Is there a Toyota Hilux in WARDOGS?
No. Nothing in the store copy, the studio's posts or the patch notes read for this site mentions a Hilux or any civilian truck. The idea is the community's: an r/WarDogs thread titled "We should get a Toyota Hilux with a .50 cal. Here's why" was posted on 20 September 2026 (gathered for this project on 2 October 2026). It is a wish, not a vehicle.
Are there tanks in WARDOGS?
Valve's own store copy names them twice: "man an artillery tank and rain down destruction on the enemy" and "tear your way through towns in heavily armoured tanks" (Steam store page, read 6 October 2026). What the copy does not carry is a tank list, a vehicle count or any vehicle statistics — the official material read for this page prints vehicle names and unlock levels instead, which is what the Humvee, URAL and helicopter answers above are made of.
Is there a mortar in WARDOGS?
Nothing official describes one. The word does not appear in the store page's copy read for this page, and the only item in the game's Steam news feed on the subject is a third-party post — "How to build a Wardogs mortar", filed under the PCGamesN feed rather than the studio's own (official Steam news feed, 11 September 2026, read 6 October 2026). This page therefore carries no mortar statistics.
How do you start playing WARDOGS?
You buy a loadout, deploy to the Control Zone and stand in it: scoring is occupancy rather than kills, the zone is 2 × 2 km and randomly placed, and the first team to 100 points takes the match (Steam store page, read 6 October 2026). The part that catches new players is the trip back after dying, which is why transport and vehicles are paid roles and why the hub page prints what they cost.
Where this comes from: the WARDOGS store page for the mode description, the Early Access notes and the Hot Zone's place in the marketing copy; the official Steam announcement feed for the 18 February 2026 FAQ post, the 19 February 2026 mod post, the 22 September 2026 Season 02 teaser and the 30 September 2026 update 0.1.2 notes. All read on 1 October 2026. The coverage claims about the three other WARDOGS sites come from fetching every URL each site lists in its sitemap and the wiki's own search API on the same day.
