- For the utility in Exo Zombies, see 3D Printer.
Mystery Box in Town
The Mystery Box, also known as the Random Box, Weapon Box, Treasure Chest, Mystery Chest, Devil-Box, Magic Box, or simply the Box, is a random weapon generator featured in all Zombies maps in Call of Duty: World at War, Call of Duty: Black Ops (except Dead Ops Arcade and Dead ops arcade 2), Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Call of Duty: Black Ops III, as well the Cyborg Rising mode of Call of Duty Online and Call of Duty: Black Ops III Nightmares mode as the Magic Box.
Regular Mystery Box Theme 
Overview
Appearance
Standard
The Mystery Box is usually a large, narrow, wooden box with a colored beam emitting from it into the sky to show the players its location. There are two glowing question marks imprinted on the lid of the Box, side by side and with the right one being vertically reversed. Inside the box lies bunches of hay and a glowing light, which is where the weapon ascends from and descends into.
The Box sits on various things in the levels; the most common being a small wooden table over a few cement bricks. In a Box spawn location where the Box is not currently present, there is instead a teddy bear sitting upon three small, black, metal containers.
When the box is opened for 950 points, a small music-box like music will play, and will stop just after the weapon appears.
When the player rolls a teddy bear, it means the current Box is used up and will teleport to a different spawn location. When the bear appears, the Demonic Announcer will laugh at the player and the bear and the Box will shoot up into the sky, removing the beam, and refunding the player's points.
Call of Duty: Black Ops (DS)
In Call of Duty: Black Ops (DS), the Mystery Box takes the form of a locker instead.
Mob of the Dead
In the Call of Duty: Black Ops II level Mob of the Dead, the Box appears more similar to a metal chest than a cubed container, with a curved lid. It also has a more devilish appearance to fit the theme of the map; it is dark brown/black in color and emits spikes from its lid. Inside the Box is filled with flames. This version also has a different theme, emitting faint screams when used rather than music. It seems to float over a small stand that is lit with flames. When the Box is not currently present in a spawn, the stand has no flames.
The teddy bear is replaced by a large, black padlock with a glowing red keyhole. When obtained, a low-pitched bell sound will play, followed by the lock turning with the sound of a key turning in a lock. Afterwards, it will fall into the box, which will close, rise slightly into the air, and fall into the stand.
Origins
In Origins, the Mystery Box resembles a stone sarcophagus with two tusks, one broken. Glowing with the blue light of the 115. The teddy bear is still present when the box moves. Unlike in previous maps, the power is required to use the Mystery Box (The 115 power station must be active for the Mystery box near that particular power station to work). Like Mob of the Dead, this version uses another theme, this time being machinery noises.
Shadows of Evil
In Shadows of Evil the Mystery Box is wooden with an alien laying on top of the box. It somewhat resembles the Origins Pack-A-Punch machine and emits a watery blue light when opened. It also doesn't have a musical jingle when activated, instead playing eerie ambient noise.
Beams
The beams emitting from the box are differently colored throughout the levels; normally, the Box emits a blue beam. However, the World at War level Shi No Numa's Box emits a yellow beam and Mob of the Dead's Box emits a red beam. In the World at War levels Nacht der Untoten and Verrückt, there is no beam present.
Use
Zombies
In order to open the Box, the player must be next to the box and press and hold the 'use' button. When activated, the available weapons will randomize, ascending, until a weapon is chosen. This process takes about four to five seconds. If the weapon is not picked up within ten seconds (the time is shown by the weapon descending back into the Box), the Box will reset and it will be able to be opened again in two seconds. It costs 950 points to use, regardless if the player takes the weapon or not. If the player receives the teddy bear or lock, the player will receive a refund and the Box will relocate somewhere else on the map.
If a player receives the Power-Up Fire Sale, all Box spawns will be occupied and the price for a weapon will be 10 points, but only for a limited time.
Nightmares
In Nightmares, Magic Boxes are located at random points throughout missions. They can be activated by holding the "use" button when near one. It does not cost anything to use. Just like in Zombies, it will give the player a random weapon, except it has a chance of having a camouflage and attachments. It only selects weapons available in the campaign.
Behavior
The Mystery Box appears in all the Zombies maps except Dead Ops Arcade and Dead Ops Arcade 2: Cyber's Avengening. In Nacht der Untoten, the Box is located in the "Help Room" and will never move. Verrückt is the first level to have the Box relocate and is the only level for the empty Box spawns to be rubble, and Mob of the Dead and Origins are the only levels for the empty Box spawns to be platforms, rather than the usual teddy bear and boxes. A radio in Origins reveals that the Mystery Box can pull out weapons from different eras, either from the past, present or future, explaining why futuristic weapons appear in maps of the past and vice versa.
Spawn locations (by level)
Nacht der Untoten
- In the "Help Room", in a corner to the left of the door connecting the room to the starting area
Verrückt
- Power room, across from the power switch (initial)
- Left upstairs, next to the wall barrier
- Left balcony, next to the door to the power room
- Right hallway, directly in front of the door
- Spawn room, next to Juggernog on the right side
Shi No Numa
- Down the stairs from spawn room (initial)
- Doctor's quarters
- Storage hut
- Communications room
- Fishing hut
- Next to spawn room
Der Riese and The Giant
- Courtyard, opposite the power switch (initial on Der Riese)
- Front of Teleporter A
- Balcony in Teleporter B room
- End of catwalk in Teleporter C room
- Animal testing lab
- Far wall adjacent to furnace in garage
Kino der Toten
- Spawn room (never initial)
- Upper hall, in front of the door
- Lower hall, near the door to the alley
- Back room, next to a window
- Near power switch in theater
- Near Juggernog in theater
- Dressing room
- Foyer room
- Alley way
"Five"
- Animal testing lab
- Weapons testing lab
- Small lab room
- Either side of the spawn room (never initial)
- In the war room (never initial)
Ascension
- Power room (initial)
- Down the stairs from the power room near Mule Kick
- Across from the rocket launch bay
- Right by all three Lunar Landers
- Next to Stamin-Up
- In the corner of the spawn room
Call of the Dead
- Top of the lighthouse
- Spawn area (never inital)
- On the other side of the lighthouse in front of a pool
- On the balcony in front of the lighthouse
- At the far end of the ship, in front of Mule Kick
- In the room directly below the power room
Shangri-La
- In the cave near the AK-74u
- In the waterfall area near Mule Kick
- In the spawn area (never initial)
- Directly across the power switches (never initial)
Moon
- Receiving Bay next to Quick Revive (never initial)
- Power Room next to the Stakeout
- Outside by the teleporter
- Bio-Dome, next to PhD Flopper
Nuketown Zombies
- Near yellow house garage
- Near garden patch in green house backyard
- Near doghouse ruins in yellow house backyard (possible inital)
- Near fallout shelter in green house backyard (possible inital)
- Inside the green house near the stairs
Green Run
- Diner (initial)
- Bus depot
- Balcony in house in farm
- Upstairs in bar in town
- Back alley in town
- Power room
Town
- Upstairs in bar
- Back alley, near Double Tap 2.0
Farm
- Balcony in house
Bus Depot
- Sidewalk outside
Die Rise
- Upside-down half of building (initial)
- "Forbidden Corner"
- Food Court
Mob of the Dead
- Warden's office (possible initial)
- Cafeteria (possible initial)
- Docks
- Catacombs
- Infirmary
Buried
- Outside general store (initial)
- Near Quick Revive
- Upstairs Courthouse
- Two potential locations in the maze
- Upstairs gunsmith
- Room above the giant's jail cell
Origins
- Inside the Tank Station near Generator 2 (possible initial)
- Next to Generator 3 (possible initial)
- Generator 4 opposite Juggernog
- Generator 5 opposite Stamin-Up
- Near Generator 6 in the church
- In the spawn room in between the two initial barriers
Shadows of Evil
- In the Canal District, at one end of the canal. (possible initial)
- In the Canal District, below the Ruby Rabbit.
- In the Footlight District, next to the perk machine. (possible initial)
- In tbe Footlight District, near the station stairs.
- In the Waterfront district, below the perk machine. (possible initial)
- In the Waterfront district high street, near the Train Station.
- In the subway station underneath Junction, next to the Apothicon Swords.
Der Eisendrache
- East side, by the dragon head (possible initial).
- West side, in front of an AA emplacement (possible initial).
- In the Juggernog room, opposite the Juggernog machine.
- In the church, to the left of the dragon head.
- Next to the Death Ray, adjacent to the door leading into the power room.
- In the hall between the Teleporter and the Rocket Test Fire site, to the left of the Teleporter.
Zetsubou No Shima
- In the area with the pillars where the four skulls are held (possible initial).
- In the area with the airplane jet engine trap (possible initial).
Weapons available
- Main article: Mystery Box/Weapons available
The weapons available in the Mystery Box are largely the same throughout each map in a game, although the weapons available do occasionally change, normally due to the addition of a new Wonder Weapon, or the unconventionality of a weapon in the map (such as Crossbow's absence in Moon due to the possible issues with low gravity). In addition, each game mostly features weapons only seen in that game, there being very few recurring weapons apart from Wonder Weapons such as Ray Gun.
Teddy Bear
- "Bye, bye!"
- — Demonic Announcer
In all maps except the Call of Duty: Black Ops (DS) Zombie maps and maps with only one location for the Mystery Box, it is possible to obtain a Teddy Bear from the box. In Mob of the Dead, a lock appears instead, having the same function as the Teddy Bear, and in Shadows of Evil, the teddy bear will have an alien head. The Teddy Bear causes the box to shake, rise up, vanish and teleport elsewhere on the map with no useful weapon dispensed; a voice in the background laughs at the player; first was from a child, then the other one which is maniacal-like. The 950 points are also refunded to the player, except on the iOS version. It is interesting to note that in the Call of Duty: World at War version of Verrückt, the box respawns only in an area that the player has opened unless only one room has been opened.
In Kino der Toten, the location is revealed on the wooden maps with green lights on its current location, while in Shi No Numa, Der Riese, Ascension, Call of the Dead, Shangri-La, Moon, Green Run, Nuketown Zombies, Die Rise, and Mob of the Dead, the box can respawn anywhere, but is marked by a beam of light, yellow in Shi No Numa, red in Mob of the Dead, and blue in Der Riese, Kino der Toten, Ascension, Call of the Dead, Shangri-La, Moon, Green Run, Nuketown Zombies and Die Rise. In "Five", as well as Ascension, the Mystery Box's location is shown on small television screen above each possible box location. At some locations, some players actually hope to get the Teddy Bear, as the box may move to a more convenient place.
The chances of the Teddy Bear appearing in the box increase depending on how many times the box has been used in its current location. The Teddy Bear will never appear on the first three uses of the box. The fourth through seventh uses have a 15% chance of choosing the Teddy Bear. Uses in the range of eighth to twelfth have a 30% chance, and any rolls after that have a 50% chance. When the box is in the starting location, however, the Teddy Bear will always appear after eight uses.
Gallery
Trivia
Call of Duty: World at War
- The early name for the Mystery Box was possibly the "Treasure Chest", judging by the model name
mtl_treasure_chest".- The Mystery Box is also referenced as the "Treasure Chest" in a loading screen tip.
- In Nacht der Untoten, there is a higher chance of getting the Ray Gun in the Mystery Box in earlier rounds than other maps.
- In Verrückt, there is writing on the stairs on to the barrier downstairs warning that if the Mystery Box is used too often, it will move. Its exact words are "Wish too often and your wishing well will run".
Call of Duty: Black Ops
- On the pre-order poster, there is a phone number that when dialed plays Mystery Box jingle in reverse.
- Weapons that are bought off the wall do not appear in the Mystery Box, unlike in Call of Duty: World at War (except for the AUG on the Wii version of the game).
- Xbox LIVE players can purchase a Mystery Box for their avatar.
- The spawn point of the Mystery Box is marked by a pile of boxes with a Teddy Bear on top, except in Verrückt, in which it is indicated by a pile of rubble with a Teddy Bear on top. The same goes for Call of Duty: World at War.
- In Shi No Numa, the boxes are different, as they are white with Japanese writing on them.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
- If a player throws an EMP Grenade at the Mystery Box, the Mystery Box will shut down, the weapon will vanish, and points will not be refunded.
- When the Mystery Box disappears, it spins two times around and then bursts into the air, unlike in the previous games where it shakes from side to side. In Mob of the Dead and Origins, it instead hovers in the air and then falls down into the base below it.
- Russman despises the Mystery Box, and insultingly calls it a "Devil's Box".
- In the June 27, 2013 patch, the indicator says "Press 'use button' for Mystery Box" as opposed to "Press 'use button' for Random Weapon."
- Its much more rare to get the Ray Gun Mark II from the Mystery Box on maps other than Buried, where its more common to receive.
- The "Toybox" Persistent Upgrade allows the player to have a higher chance of rolling better weapons from the Mystery Box.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
- Oddly, there is a pair of pants in addition to there being a head and hand, in the box on Nightmares mode. All of which are unobtainable.
- The Mystery Box in Shadows of Evil has silhouettes of a tailed four-legged monster inside which is reminiscent of the Facehuggers within Eggs from Alien.
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