Hacking tools
The three hacking tools that open keypad doors: what each tier opens, how fast, and how to craft them from looted parts.
Verified in 0.5 · current game 0.5.1.0
Since update 0.5, a keypad door no longer needs its code if you carry a hacking tool. There are three tools, one per tier. Each is crafted once in the hideout and kept for good. This guide covers what each tier opens, how to unlock and craft them, and where to farm the parts.
Three ways through a keypad door
- A key or keycard, for doors that have one.
- The code, read from a note found in the world. Codes aren't permanent: some rotate, so a code from a video may be wrong on your server.
- A hacking tool. Some keypads say in game that they can only be hacked. One example is the storage room of the Blue Lagoon office (204, 117), a level 2 keypad. Without the right tool, those rooms stay shut.
How a hack works
Keep the tool in your inventory, walk up to the keypad and use it. The tool plugs into the keypad by cable and finds the digits one by one. You stand still the whole time, so clear the area first or have a squadmate cover you.
The three tiers
| Tool | Opens | Time to hack |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Hacking Tool | level 1 keypads | 20 s |
| Advanced Hacking Tool | level 1 and 2 keypads | 15 s |
| Superior Hacking Tool | every keypad | 10 s |
The times come from a single community guide, so treat them as approximate. Don't confuse these with the ATM Hacking Tool: it's a single-use item found as loot, and it only works on ATMs.
Before you can craft
- Unlock the hideout. It opens once you reach rank 2 with both Lab Rat and Artisan.
- Build the Electronics Workshop and its first bench, the Basic Electronics Bench: a Soldering Iron, a Multimeter, a Toolset, a Power Supply and Wood. The hacking tools are crafted there.
- Unlock the recipe. An item can't be crafted until its recipe is unlocked. Community guides disagree on how: one says through Artisan's tasks, another that recipes are found in the world. Check the recipe screen of your workshop.
Recipes
Each tool takes three parts. You never find a part on its own: you loot a bigger object and take it apart in your inventory.
- Basic: a Multi-Bus Converter (from a UNLRA Field Terminal), a CPU Card (from an Artillery Ballistic Computer) and a Spoofing ASIC Module (from an IMSI Catcher).
- Advanced: an FPGA Module (from a Manpack Tactical Radio), an Avionics Processor Board (from a Baget-53-31 Onboard Computer) and a Server RAM Module (from an ST1122 Storage Computer).
- Superior: a High-Speed Digital Processor Board (from a Radar Signal Processor), an Oven Controlled Oscillator Board (from a Portable SATCOM Terminal) and a Digital Synthesis Engine (from a Counter IED/Jammer Unit).
Where to farm
These are the spots players report most. Each object's page, linked below, has the details and is kept up to date: if it disagrees with this summary, trust the page.
Basic, the easy one
- UNLRA Field Terminal: Blue Lagoon (picnic tables before the campsite, the abandoned shack on the right as you enter, on the filing cabinets of the makeshift hideout) and Ban Pa (the elders' hut, the stilt house).
- Artillery Ballistic Computer: YBL-1 (the desk with the code for The Negotiator, the conference room) or the Sawmill storage shed.
- IMSI Catcher: Pha Lang Airfield main building, Hunter's Paradise, or an office desk at the Sawmill.
- The Sawmill can give you two of the three objects in one trip.
Advanced
- Manpack Tactical Radio: Tiger Bay, in the tent behind the Municipal Office and at the north end of the mall, second floor.
- Baget-53-31 Onboard Computer: Fort Narith, in the south hangar with the jet or in the maintenance room on the HQ ground floor.
- ST1122 Storage Computer: Midnight Sapphire, in the hotel supply closet behind reception. You need the Hotel Supply Closet Key Card.
Superior, tier 4 only
- Radar Signal Processor: RLSL-1 headquarters, in the server and communications rooms.
- Portable SATCOM Terminal: Lakevale Sanctuary, second-floor conference room, or the Occupied Villa, second floor outside the Commander's Office.
- Counter IED/Jammer Unit: Northern Reach HQ, in the locked server office. Its code is on a note in a ground-floor room near the entrance.
- Every Superior spot is a tier 4 area. Go with good armor and a squad.
Which one first
Start with the Basic: its objects spawn in quiet areas, and it already opens many doors you had no code for. Then the Advanced, which opens the level 2 keypads, like the Blue Lagoon storage room. Keep the Superior for when you're running tier 4 areas anyway. Each tier is also faster than the one before, which matters when you're standing still at a keypad under fire.
Items in this guide
21Names, pictures, where to find each item and how it is crafted are read from the item and the hideout, so they stay current.
Basic Hacking ToolMilitary equipmentWhere to find it: Crafted in the hideout workshop using 1x Multi-Bus Converter, 1x CPU Card and 1x Spoofing ASIC Module.Crafted at the Electronics Workshop: 1 × CPU Card + 1 × Multi-Bus Converter + 1 × Spoofing ASIC Moduleunconfirmed
Advanced Hacking ToolMilitary equipmentWhere to find it: - Crafted in the hideout, not found as loot: an FPGA Module, an Avionics Processor Board and a Server RAM Module.
- Those come from taking apart a Manpack Tactical Radio, a Baget-53-31 Onboard Computer and an ST1122 Storage Computer.
- Tier 2: opens level 1 and 2 keypad doors, in 15 seconds (20 with the Basic one). Reusable, it stays in your inventory.Crafted at the Electronics Workshop: Avionics Processor Board + FPGA Module + Server RAM Moduleunconfirmed
Superior Hacking ToolMilitary equipmentWhere to find it: - Crafted in the hideout, not found as loot: one High-Speed Digital Processor Board, one Oven Controlled Oscillator Board and one Digital Synthesis Engine.
- Those come from taking apart a Radar Signal Processor, a Portable SATCOM Terminal and a Counter IED/Jammer Unit, all found in tier 4 areas.
- Tier 3: opens every keypad door, in 10 seconds, the fastest. Reusable, it stays in your inventory.Crafted at the Electronics Workshop: 1 × Digital Synthesis Engine + 1 × High-Speed Digital Processor Board + 1 × Oven Controlled Oscillator Boardunconfirmed
Multi-Bus ConverterElectronicsWhere to find it: Disassembled from the UNLRA Uplink Terminal (Field Terminal). Used to craft the Basic Hacking Tool in the hideout workshop. Community-reported spawns, not verified in game: Blue Lagoon - picnic tables before the campsite, abandoned shack on the right when entering, makeshift hideout on top of the filing cabinets; Ban Pa - elders hut coffee table, stilt house table.- UNLRA Field TerminalWhere to find it: Dismantles into a Multi-Bus Converter, a Basic Hacking Tool component. Community-reported spawns, not verified in game: Blue Lagoon - picnic tables before the campsite, abandoned shack on the right when entering, makeshift hideout on top of the filing cabinets; Ban Pa - elders hut coffee table, stilt house table.
CPU CardElectronicsWhere to find it: Disassembled from the Artillery Ballistic Computer. Used to craft the Basic Hacking Tool in the hideout workshop. Community-reported spawns, not verified in game: YBL - behind the desk holding the negotiator task code, desk in the conference room; Sawmill - inside the storage shed.- Artillery Ballistic ComputerWhere to find it: Dismantles into a CPU Card, a Basic Hacking Tool component. Community-reported spawns, not verified in game: YBL - behind the desk holding the negotiator task code, desk in the conference room; Sawmill - inside the storage shed (the artillery log also spawns in the hangar on the right, far end).
Spoofing ASIC ModuleElectronicsWhere to find it: Disassembled from the IMSI Catcher. Used to craft the Basic Hacking Tool in the hideout workshop. Community-reported spawns, not verified in game: Pha Lang Airfield - second floor of the main building on the shelves, storage shed, conference room table; Hunter's Paradise - weapons room (requires key), central restaurant table near the kickable door, shooting range hackable door; Sawmill - inside the sawmill office.- IMSI CatcherWhere to find it: - Pha Lang Airfield, main building, including one behind the PLA Strg key door. - Hunter's Paradise, including one in a keypad-locked room. - Sawmill, on an office desk (single source).
- FPGA ModuleWhere to find it: Disassembled from a Manpack Tactical Radio. Community-reported spawns, not verified in game: Tiger Bay - tent out the back door of the Municipal Office Building, north end of the mall on the 2nd floor, hood of a car outside the drug lab.
- Manpack Tactical RadioWhere to find it: not recorded yet.
- Avionics Processor BoardWhere to find it: Disassembled from a Baget-53-31 Onboard Computer. Community-reported spawns, not verified in game: Fort Narith - HQ 1st floor maintenance room, HQ 2nd floor comms room, hangar with the Su-35 parked inside, underground armory near the breaker box.
- Baget-53-31 Onboard ComputerWhere to find it: - Inside the south hangar with a jet inside at Fort Narith - Inside the ground floor maintenance room at Fort Narith Headquarters
- Server RAM ModuleWhere to find it: Disassembled from an ST1122 Storage Computer. Community-reported spawns, not verified in game: Midnight Sapphire - supply closet, groundskeeper server room, possibly the golf course loot room.
- ST1122 Storage ComputerWhere to find it: - Inside Midnight Sapphire Hotel behind Hotel Supply Closet Key Card door room under the main table - Midnight Sapphire: groundskeeper's server room (found in game on 0.5)
- High-Speed Digital Processor BoardWhere to find it: Disassembled from a Radar Signal Processor. Community-reported spawns, not verified in game: RLSL-1 - HQ building first floor comms room, garage/workshop northeast of the telescope building.
- Radar Signal ProcessorWhere to find it: - Inside RSLS-1 headquarters in the servers room.
- Oven Controlled Oscillator BoardElectronicsWhere to find it: Disassembled from a Portable SATCOM Terminal. Community-reported spawns, not verified in game: Lakevale Sanctuary - main building, second floor conference room on the table; Occupied Villa - second floor, outside the locked commander's office door.
- Portable SATCOM TerminalWhere to find it: not recorded yet.
- Digital Synthesis EngineWhere to find it: Disassembled from a Counter IED/Jammer Unit. Community-reported spawns, not verified in game: Northern Reach - unmarked building (169,151) between the research facility and HQ, on the table in the middle of the room; HQ coded room on the central table (the code is on the ground floor, in the room closest to the entrance).
- Counter IED/Jammer UnitWhere to find it: - Inside Northern Reach headquarters inside the locked server office room.