Unlocking the Pack-a-Punch machine on Five requires more than simply turning on the power. Players must restore electricity to the Pentagon, raise the DEFCON level to its maximum, and use the teleporter to reach a hidden meeting room where the upgrade machine is located.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to opening Pack-a-Punch in Five.

Restore Power First

At the beginning of the match, open the doors on the left side of the starting area and unlock the elevator leading to the War Room.

Once you arrive, head downstairs to the second elevator, which takes you to the secret laboratories. Continue to Room 3, where you’ll find the map’s power switch.

Turning on the power activates several important features:

  • Perk machines become available.
  • Teleporters throughout the map begin functioning.
  • Nova Six Crawlers can now spawn in the laboratory section.

These Crawlers are confined to the lab area, so if you avoid returning there after restoring power, you won’t encounter them during the rest of the match.

Find All Four DEFCON Panels

With the power on, return to the War Room. Your next objective is to activate all four DEFCON switches. They can be used in any order, and each one raises the DEFCON level by one stage until it reaches DEFCON 5.

The four panel locations are:

  • On the wall beside the elevator leading to the laboratories.
  • Next to the wooden double doors near the Jugger-Nog machine.
  • Upstairs, to the left of the elevator that returns to the starting floor.
  • Upstairs, to the right of the same elevator.

After activating the final panel, the announcer will confirm that the facility has reached DEFCON 5.

How to Reach the Pack-a-Punch Room

Once DEFCON 5 is active, use any teleporter on the map to access the Pentagon’s hidden meeting room.

Inside, the Pack-a-Punch machine rises from the wall, giving your team roughly 30 to 45 seconds to upgrade weapons without zombies interrupting.

The room doesn’t stay safe forever, however. Once the timer expires, the wooden doors open and zombies begin entering through both the main entrance and nearby barriers.

Reopening Pack-a-Punch

When every player leaves the meeting room, it closes again, and the Pack-a-Punch machine becomes inaccessible.

To reopen it, you’ll need to repeat the entire DEFCON process by activating all four control panels once more. While it takes a little coordination, learning the panel locations makes future trips to Pack-a-Punch much quicker, especially in longer survival games.