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If Following Orders is missing notes, contraband, or the No Stone Unturned unlock, replay the mission and fully clear the first house before speaking to the couple. Collect the heart medicine, MP3 player, Western novel, and rations, read the Baekseolgi-tteok recipe note, open the red toolbox with 214 (or shoot its lock), and use the peaceful interrogation choices. In the third house, retrieve the key, open the kitchen floor hatch, bring out the hidden woman, and take the crawlspace note. The counter should finish at NOTES FOUND: 4/4.
Why Following Orders collectibles seem to be missing
Following Orders is mission 3 of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. It takes place in a North Korean village while the squad searches for a defector. The mission has four contraband items and four notes. The game checks more than whether you have looked at the notes: the contraband must also be confiscated, and the first-house pickups affect the interrogation route and the collectible-related unlocks.
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The most common mistake is entering the conversation with the couple after reading the obvious note but before emptying every cabinet in the first house. That can leave the required dialogue unavailable and prevent the completion counter from advancing. A note can be visible and readable while the collectible condition is still incomplete because one physical pickup was never taken.
Published walkthroughs updated on October 16–17, 2026 identify the same recovery route. An Activision patch-notes page dated August 2026 does not confirm a dedicated fix for this mission-specific spawning problem, so a clean replay remains the dependable solution rather than relying on an unconfirmed patch claim.
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Reliable repair route
- Replay the entire mission. Start Following Orders again, or load an earlier checkpoint before the first-house conversation. Do not continue from a point after speaking to the couple if you can avoid it; the required items need to be collected first.
- Perform a complete first-house sweep. Search every room, cabinet, and accessible surface before interacting with the couple. Pick up all four contraband items listed below and read the Baekseolgi-tteok recipe note while you are there.
- Open the red toolbox. Enter 214. The combination is taken from the recipe quantities in flour, water, raisins order, while salt is skipped. If you prefer not to use the combination, shoot the lock instead; the toolbox can be opened either way.
- Use the non-violent interrogation route. Choose “Please join your husband,” then “I will not ask again.” Ask about the South Korean medicine and select “Give up the defector. Now.” Threats or physical violence can invalidate the No Harm Done requirement.
- Finish the third-house sequence. Read “A Note From Your Neighbor,” take the key, unlock the kitchen floor hatch, and bring the hidden woman out. Then enter the crawlspace and collect “Note From Mom.” Leaving the woman hidden can keep the final note unavailable.
- Check the mission counter. Before finishing, confirm that the notes display reads NOTES FOUND: 4/4. If every contraband item was confiscated, No Stone Unturned should appear after the final note.
- Recover from a failed run. If the counter does not complete, reload an earlier checkpoint and repeat the first-house sweep and crawlspace sequence. If the checkpoint does not place you before the relevant interactions, restart the mission and follow the order above from the beginning.
First-house contraband checklist
These four pickups are separate from the notes. Reading every note does not substitute for collecting them.
| Contraband | Required action | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Heart medicine | Pick it up during the first-house sweep. | Counts toward the four confiscated contraband items and supports the required interrogation route. |
| MP3 player | Pick it up before speaking to the couple. | Counts toward the contraband completion check. |
| Western novel | Pick it up before leaving the house. | Counts toward the contraband completion check. |
| Rations | Pick them up before the interrogation. | Counts toward the contraband completion check. |
After collecting the four items, read the Baekseolgi-tteok recipe note as well. The note is important for the toolbox combination, but it is not a replacement for any of the four physical contraband pickups. Walk the first house a second time if necessary and verify that each item has actually been taken, rather than assuming that looking at it or opening its container registered the pickup.
How to open the red toolbox
Use combination 214
The red toolbox combination is 214. The recipe provides the sequence: flour first, water second, raisins third. Salt is deliberately omitted when translating the recipe into the lock input. Enter the digits in that order, and the toolbox should open without firing a shot.
Shoot the lock instead
Shooting the lock is a valid alternative if the keypad does not accept the entry or you want to continue without stopping to reconstruct the recipe. It does not replace the first-house sweep: opening the toolbox is only one interaction in the route, while the four contraband pickups and the recipe note remain separate completion checks.
Use the peaceful interrogation choices
The conversation is sequence-sensitive. With the first-house contraband collected, use the following responses:
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- Select “Please join your husband.”
- When the next choice appears, select “I will not ask again.”
- Ask about the South Korean medicine.
- Select “Give up the defector. Now.”
This route is the safe choice for No Harm Done. Threatening the couple or using physical force can take the conversation down a different branch and cause that requirement to fail, even if the notes and contraband were otherwise collected correctly. Do not begin the interrogation until the first house is fully cleared; the contraband adds the dialogue options needed for the peaceful route.
Third-house route to the final note
Read the neighbor’s note and take the key
In the third house, read “A Note From Your Neighbor”. Take the key associated with this sequence. The key is needed to progress to the floor hatch; merely reading the note and leaving the house does not finish the collectible route.
Open the kitchen hatch
Use the key on the hatch in the kitchen floor. This opens the way to the hidden woman. If you are trying to move quickly, the guides identify pressing GRAB twice as the fastest extraction sequence once the hatch is open.
Bring the woman out and search the crawlspace
Bring the hidden woman out instead of leaving her below the house. Then enter the crawlspace and collect “Note From Mom”. The woman’s extraction and the crawlspace pickup are linked in the route: leaving her hidden can prevent access to the final note and leave No Stone Unturned untriggered.
What the counters should show
There are four notes in the mission, and the in-game notes counter is the most useful diagnostic. After the final note in the cellar/crawlspace sequence, it should read NOTES FOUND: 4/4. The achievement should appear at that point when all four first-house contraband items were also confiscated.
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If the counter is below 4/4, reading the same already-counted note again will not solve the problem. The likely omissions identified by the walkthroughs are one of the four first-house pickups or the final note obtained through the third-house hatch and crawlspace. Return to those two locations rather than searching randomly through later areas.
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Diagnose the failure by symptom
The couple does not offer the expected dialogue
Leave the conversation if the game allows it, then verify the first house item by item. The four contraband objects must be collected before the couple is questioned. Notes alone do not unlock the same dialogue route.
The toolbox will not open
Try 214, using the recipe order flour, water, raisins and skipping salt. If the input still fails, shoot the lock. A toolbox problem is separate from the achievement check, so continue to verify the four contraband objects and the notes counter afterward.
No Harm Done fails
The likely cause is a threatening or violent interrogation branch. Replay the conversation after completing the first-house sweep and use the four peaceful responses in order: “Please join your husband,” “I will not ask again,” ask about the South Korean medicine, and “Give up the defector. Now.”
The final note is not present
In the third house, confirm all three prerequisites: “A Note From Your Neighbor” was read, the key was taken, and the kitchen floor hatch was unlocked. Bring the hidden woman out, then search the crawlspace for “Note From Mom.” Leaving her below can make the note unavailable.
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The counter remains incomplete after the last area
Reload an earlier checkpoint and check the first-house contraband again, then repeat the crawlspace route. If no earlier checkpoint contains the required interactions, replay the mission. The published guides consistently identify those omissions as the usual cause; there is no confirmed mission-specific patch note establishing a separate spawning fix.
Choosing a recovery method
| Recovery choice | Completeness | Achievement safety | Speed consideration | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Replay with a full first-house sweep | Checks all four contraband items before the conversation | Allows the peaceful dialogue route and the complete collectible sequence | Slower than advancing from a late checkpoint, but least likely to preserve a missed pickup | Published walkthrough route |
| Reload an earlier checkpoint | Works when the checkpoint is before the first-house conversation and the missed item can be collected | Requires repeating the peaceful choices if the conversation is reset | Faster than a full replay when the correct checkpoint is available | Recommended fallback in troubleshooting guides |
| Use 214 on the toolbox | Opens the toolbox without firing | Does not replace the contraband or note checks | Avoids reconstructing the lock during the run | Recipe-derived combination |
| Shoot the toolbox lock | Also opens the toolbox | Does not replace the contraband or note checks | Fast alternative when the combination input is inconvenient | Published walkthrough route |
| Use threats or force in the interrogation | Can still advance the scene, but risks the peaceful objective | Unsafe for No Harm Done | May appear quicker, but creates a failed objective that requires another run | Dialogue-branch warning in walkthroughs |
Why a replay is more reliable than waiting for a patch
As of the August 2026 Activision patch-note page reviewed for this issue, no official note confirms a dedicated fix for Following Orders notes or contraband failing to spawn. That does not prove every player’s symptom has the same cause, but it means an alleged patch resolution is not established. The October 2026 CODMunity, iTechGuides, and All Things How walkthroughs instead point to an incomplete first-house sweep or the missed crawlspace note.
Use the mission’s own counters to distinguish a missed collectible from a visual glitch: four contraband pickups must be confiscated, and the notes counter must reach 4/4. If both conditions are satisfied but the unlock still does not appear, reload before the final-note sequence and run it again; if that fails, replay the mission in the documented order so every gate is evaluated in one continuous run.
Complete order of operations
For a run aimed at both collectible completion and the peaceful objective, use this order:
Quick Recap
- Enter the first house and search every accessible container.
- Collect heart medicine, the MP3 player, the Western novel, and the rations.
- Read the Baekseolgi-tteok recipe note.
- Open the red toolbox with 214 or shoot the lock.
- Only now speak to the couple.
- Choose “Please join your husband,” then “I will not ask again,” ask about the South Korean medicine, and choose “Give up the defector. Now.”
- At the third house, read “A Note From Your Neighbor,” take the key, unlock the kitchen hatch, and bring the hidden woman out.
- Search the crawlspace for “Note From Mom.”
- Verify NOTES FOUND: 4/4 and wait for No Stone Unturned to appear.
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