You’re scrolling through your Barracks in Black Ops 6, looking for that one specific banner to flex on the lobby, and you see them. Rows of redacted text. Static-filled boxes. BO6 classified calling cards are the ultimate "if you know, you know" flex in the game right now. Honestly, it’s kinda annoying that Treyarch hides the requirements, but that’s the whole point of Dark Ops.
These aren't your standard "get 50 headshots" grinds. They're hidden challenges that don't even appear in your menu until you accidentally—or very intentionally—stumble upon them. If you've been wondering why your completion percentage is stuck despite finishing every visible challenge, this is why.
What Most People Get Wrong About Dark Ops
Most players think you just need to play a lot to unlock everything. Not really. You can play 1,000 hours and never see a single BO6 classified calling card if you aren't doing weird, specific stuff. Take the "Well That Was a Waste" card, for instance. You literally have to pop a Perkaholic GobbleGum—one of the rarest items in Zombies—and then get yourself downed within 10 seconds. It feels wrong. It feels like a mistake. But that's exactly how you get the card.
✨ Don't miss: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 3 Months: Is It Still the Best Deal in Gaming?
There’s also this misconception that Dark Ops cards are required for the "100 Percenter" title. They aren't. Thank god. The 100% completion calling cards only track your Career, Battle Hardened, and Prestige challenges. Dark Ops is its own separate beast for the true completionists who want to show off that they’ve done the impossible.
The Multiplayer Challenges That'll Break You
Multiplayer is where the sweats live, and the classified cards here reflect that. Some are just "play a lot," but others require a level of luck that's basically gambling.
- Nuclear Killer: You need a 30-kill streak without using scorestreaks. In a game with omnimovement and everyone sliding around like they're on ice? It’s brutal.
- Very Nuclear: This is the one that separates the pros from the streamers. You have to earn a Nuke with 25 different weapons. Most people can't even get one Nuke with their favorite AR.
- Blunt Trauma: Ever killed someone by hitting them in the face with a smoke grenade? No? Well, you'll need to if you want this card. It does negligible damage, so you have to weaken them first.
- Return to Sender: You have to kill an enemy with their own frag grenade. You've basically got to be a ninja with the "interact" button.
Then there’s the Dark Indeed card. You have to earn Dark Matter on 33 weapons. It’s a long, long road. If you see someone with this equipped, just know they probably haven't seen the sun in weeks.
Zombies: Where the Real Secrets Are
Zombies mode has always been the home of secrets, and BO6 is no different. The BO6 classified calling cards in Zombies range from "cool story bro" to "I never want to play this map again."
💡 You might also like: GTA 6 Rockstar Games and Why the Wait is Actually Making Us All Crazy
One of the most infamous ones right now is Social Distancing. You have to reach Round 20 without taking a single point of damage. One stray zombie hit, one splash from a grenade, or a tiny fall? Reset. It’s easier on Liberty Falls if you stay on the rooftops, but even then, the Abominations make it a nightmare.
The Round 100 Club
If you see the Another Round? calling card, that person reached Round 100. In previous games, you could just sit in a glitch or use a super-broken weapon. In BO6, the armor system and the way zombies scale make Round 100 a genuine test of endurance. It takes hours. Your game might even crash before you get there, which is the real "classified" challenge nobody talks about.
Weird Specifics
- Sticks N' Stones: Reach Round 25 solo using only melee weapons and combat axes.
- Fatale: Kill two Amalgams with a single shot.
- Box Addict: Buy every single weapon from the Mystery Box in one match. This one is mostly just a test of how much Essence you can waste.
Campaign Secrets You Probably Missed
Even the Campaign has its own set of redacted cards. Most people blow through the story once and never look back, but you're missing out on some of the coolest art in the game.
The Phantom Presence card is a classic. You have to sneak through the entire black site intel center in the "Most Wanted" mission without being detected. It turns Call of Duty into a stealth game. Then there’s Kineticist, which requires you to complete the time trial in "Separation Anxiety" in a single attempt. No checkpoints. No resets. Just pure speed.
👉 See also: Is downloading a 7 days to end with you torrent actually worth the risk?
How to Actually Track Your Progress
Since these are classified, you can't see the bars moving. It sucks. Your best bet is to keep a literal checklist on your phone or a notepad.
The game will give you a notification in the bottom center of your screen the second you finish one, but it’s easy to miss in the heat of a gunfight. If you're going for BO6 classified calling cards, check your "Dark Ops" tab under Challenges after every match. If a new slot has opened up, you did something right.
Why You Should Care
At the end of the day, these cards are about prestige. In a world where everyone can buy a cool skin from the shop, a Dark Ops card says you actually did something. You didn't just spend $20; you spent 50 hours trying to get a collateral kill with a sniper or survived 30 rounds without a single down.
Actionable Tips for the Grind
- Don't do it alone: For cards like "Of Legend" (beating the Citadelle Des Morts boss with only swords), you really need a coordinated team. Randoms will ruin your run by throwing a grenade or using a Scorestreak.
- Use the right Augments: In Zombies, your Augments change everything. If you're going for the "Kunoichi" card (killing specific zombies during one Aether Shroud), make sure you have the Void Sheath equipped.
- Hardcore is your friend: For the "Buzzsaw" card (10 triple kills in Hardcore), the lower health makes those rapid kills way more achievable.
- Bot lobbies aren't a thing: Don't fall for "glitch" videos claiming you can get these in private matches with bots. Most Dark Ops require "Public" or "Standard" match settings to trigger.
Start with the easy ones. Go into a Zombies match on Liberty Falls, grab the melee perk, and see if you can make it to Round 25 with just a knife for "Sticks N' Stones." It’s a fun way to change up the gameplay loop and you might actually find yourself enjoying the challenge more than the mindless camo grind. Once you get that first redacted card to flip over, the dopamine hit is real.