Battlefield 1

Battlefield 1
Active since 2017-02-14
The Battlefield 1 ARG - an ARG that began with headphones and Morse Code.
Type	[[List_of_Investigations#Official|Official]]
Creator	EA Dice
Discovered	2017-02-14

Main Page > List of Investigations > Battlefield 1

This wiki page documents the easter egg/ARG that is hidden in Battlefield 1. This page includes step-by-step instructions to unlock the secret "A Beginning" dogtag. A full video explanation of the easter egg can be found here. Currently, the primary solving hub for this ARG is the Battlefield Easter Egg community, who have a wiki here and a YouTube channel here.

Headphones and Morse

1 pair of headphones is hidden on each map. The headphones are indestructible and can be located on every server, as long as they have not already been picked up. It appears that there are 5 spawn locations per map, although some of them remain undiscovered. The headphones can be picked up by any player by walking over them. Upon approaching a hidden MCOM station after having retrieved a pair of headphones, the player will hear some Morse code being tapped out. A player can carry only one pair of headphones at a time, and only the player wearing the headphones will be able to hear the Morse code when near enough to a hidden MCOM.

Headphone Locations

Here is is a series of images, made by RenegadeX5, which display headphone and MCOM locations on each map. In order to hear the Morse code, you need to pick up the headphones from one of the 5 locations on each map (you might need to check all 5 before finding them!) and bring them to the MCOM station.

(Note: you can click each image to get a larger version.)

• 

  Amiens

• 

  Argonne Forest

• 

  Ballroom Blitz

• 

  Empire's Edge

• 

  FAO Fortress

• 

  Monte Grappa

• 

  Sinai Desert

• 

  St-Quentin-Scar

• 

  Suez Canal

When the headphones and MCOM stations were first discovered, the Morse code was meaningless gibberish. However, the contents of the Morse code changed in future patches.

November 15, 2016

On November 15th, Battlefield 1 received an update which changed the Morse code heard on all maps' hidden MCOM stations to the following:

.--. .-. . ...- .. --- ..- ... | -- . ... ... .- --. . | -.-. --- .-. .-. ..- .--. - . -..
.- .-- .- .. - | ..-. ..- .-. - .... . .-. | .. -. ... - .-. ..- -.-. - .. --- -. ...

PREVIOUS MESSAGE CORRUPTED
AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS

Additionally, the patch changed the following things:

• Ballroom Blitz had an MCOM station and headphones added to it, whereas pre-patch it was the only map with neither
• The spawn locations of many headphones on most maps were changed
• The above Morse message now plays on loop until the MCOM station eventually explodes, although this appears to be buggy
• Once the MCOM station explodes, headphones stop spawning on the map
• Dying after having retrieved a headphone will no longer cause a new headphone to spawn
• Only one pair of headphones will spawn upon the initiation of a round on each map

February 14, 2017

On February 14, the Winter Update was released. The Morse code changed again, to the following message:

GO STRAIGHT TO <location_name>.  OLD METHODS COMPROMISED.  MUST ACQUIRE NEW KEY.  WILL MISS DROPOFF IF DELAY OR INCORRECT LOCATION.

Each user hears a different location name; locations are randomly assigned to players. There are 27 locations total: 3 locations on each of the 9 maps. In order to advance through the Easter egg, you need to know which location you are assigned; here is a tutorial (courtesy of Dunem) to help you read your Morse code. This is the list of locations, along with their respective maps, in alphabetical order:

• AMIENS NEUF FURNITURE: Amiens
• BALLROOM MAP VARENNES: Ballroom Blitz (Formerly ABBEY MAP VARENNES)
• BUCKET MARSHLANDS FAW: FAO Fortress
• CANAL KANTARA VASES: Suez Canal
• CASTELLO ISLE ADRIATIC: Empire Edge
• CHURCH RUINS AMIENS: Amiens
• COASTAL FORTRESS ADRIATIC: Empire Edge
• CRATE JABAL JIFAR: Sinai Desert
• CRATE SEREN VENETIAN: Monte Grappa
• CRATE TRENCH CANAL: Suez Canal
• FERRO FIRE VENETIAN: Monte Grappa
• HILL BARN ADRIATIC: Empire Edge
• HILL TOWER CANAL: Suez Canal
• HOTEL CHECK PERONNE: St. Quentin Scar
• LONGUEVILLE STATUE AMIENS: Amiens
• LUGGAGE BASEMENT APREMONT: Argonne Forest (Formerly LUGGAGE BASEMENT VARENNES)
• OUTPOST BARREL FAW: FAO Fortress
• PANEL WATER APREMONT: Argonne Forest (Formerly PANEL WATER VARENNES)
• PILLAR OUTSKIRTS JIFAR: Sinai Desert
• PILLOW MAZAR JIFAR: Sinai Desert
• RUIN VENTURE PERONNE: St. Quentin Scar
• STATUES GARDEN VARENNES: Ballroom Blitz (Formerly STATUES GARDEN APREMONT)
• STOVE TURRET VENETIAN: Monte Grappa
• TRAVECY ATTIC PERONNE: St. Quentin Scar
• TREE FORTRESS FAW: FAO Fortress
• TREE TRAIN APREMONT: Argonne Forest (Formerly TREE TRAIN VARENNES)
• VARENNES SERVANT BED: Ballroom Blitz (Formerly APREMONT RITZ BED)

The message will repeat until you move away from the MCOM station, at which point the MCOM will explode. Each of the locations mentioned above has a symbol near it.

Symbols

The first symbols discovered at each location are difficult to find; they are small double arrows pointing to the left and right, and only appear when the player comes within 0.4 meters. A player will typically need to crouch or go prone in order to be able to see their symbol. Additionally, players can only see the symbol at the location they've been "assigned" to. When examining a symbol up close, a distinct sound is played (video). Pictured below are all 27 symbol locations, sorted by the map they appear on (maps made by Darrel).

NOTE: If you're having trouble finding your location with the images below, Jambajeww has made a video guide for all 27 locations, with timestamps for each location in the description of the video.

• 

  Amiens
  AMIENS NEUF FURNITURE
CHURCH RUINS AMIENS
LONGUEVILLE STATUE AMIENS

• 

  Argonne Forest
  LUGGAGE BASEMENT APREMONT
PANEL WATER APREMONT
TREE TRAIN APREMONT

• 

  Ballroom Blitz
  BALLROOM MAP VARENNES
VARENNES SERVANT BED
STATUES GARDEN VARENNES

• 

  Empire's Edge
  CASTELLO ISLE ADRIATIC
COASTAL FORTRESS ADRIATIC
HILL BARN ADRIATIC

• 

  FAO Fortress
  BUCKET MARSHLANDS FAW
OUTPOST BARREL FAW
TREE FORTRESS FAW

• 

  Monte Grappa
  CRATE SEREN VENETIAN
FERRO FIRE VENETIAN
STOVE TURRET VENETIAN

• 

  Sinai Desert
  CRATE JABAL JIFAR
PILLAR OUTSKIRTS JIFAR
PILLOW MAZAR JIFAR

• 

  St-Quentin-Scar
  HOTEL CHECK PERONNE
RUIN VENTURE PERONNE
TRAVECY ATTIC PERONNE

• 

  Suez Canal
  CANAL KANTARA VASES
CRATE TRENCH CANAL
HILL TOWER CANAL

Second Message

A triangle symbol discovered at the VARENNES SERVANT BED location

After a player discovers their symbol, returning to an MCOM station with headphones yields another message in Morse code. Additionally, the MCOM's lights glow yellow instead of their usual white when broadcasting this message. The message starts with one of the above location names, but reversed:

<reversed_location_name> REMEMBER FIRST RULE. IF COMPROMISED L PILL.

An L PILL is short for lethal pill, a pill intended to be taken by soldiers to commit suicide rather than be tortured. Visiting the specified reversed location, the second location, yields a triangle symbol in place of the normal double-arrow symbol. The second symbol appears in the exact same spot that the first symbol may appear for other players.

Third Message

The third symbol that can be discovered (credit to Noizex)

After a player discovers the triangle symbol at their second location, returning to an MCOM station with headphones yields another message. This time, the MCOM lights glow purple. Here's the text of the message:

<atbash_cipher> SECOND RULE. SIGHTING. REPORT AND WAIT. INVESTIGATING ALONE COULD LEAD TO DEATH

Solving the Atbash cipher in the message yields another location from the list above. Visiting the third location leads to an arrow symbol pointing right.

Fourth Message

The fourth symbol (credit to Noizex)

Returning to an MCOM station after discovering the third symbol yields yet another message. This time, the MCOM lights glow green (previously, they glowed white, yellow, and purple for the first, second, and third messages respectively). Here's the text of the message:

<rot_cipher> THIRD RULE. IF TAKEN BY THE OTHERS DISCOVER MEANS TO COMMUNICATE TO HOUSE

Solving the ROT cipher with a key of 7 (N = 19) yields another location from the list of locations, leading to a fourth symbol, which is shown on the right.

Fifth Message

The fifth symbol (credit to Dexx)

After finding the fourth symbol, the MCOM's light colour turns transparent. This message begins with an location from the list of locations, reversed and encoded with the Railfence cipher, with 5 rails, and 0 offset. (Note: Some players report rails 5 offset 0 does not yield cleartext. The ciphertext must be reversed before it is input into the railfence ciper to get cleartext with rails 5 offset 0. Otherwise, the player will need to use rails 5 offset 6. Try each method until you get something legible.) Note that the previous symbol, the fourth symbol, is in the shape of a fence, which may be interpreted as a hint for the correct decryption method for this cipher (railfence cipher). Here's the format of the message:

<rail_fence> FOURTH RULE. KILL ALL ON SAME TRAIL. REMOVE DOG TAGS AND REPORT TO HOUSE

The fifth symbol is a pattern of broken and unbroken dashes.

Note: the cipher on this stage can also be solved as an anagram.

Sixth Message

The sixth symbol, "Edward" (credit to Noizex)

After finding the fifth symbol, the MCOM's lights turn to an orange colour. Here's the content of the sixth message:

<double_cipher> MORSE MESSAGES BEING INTERCEPTED. BEGINNING FULL ENCRYPTION SOON

The "double_cipher" is comprised only of single dots and single dashes: E's and T's in Morse code. The cipher can be solved by converting the transmission into A's and B's, where A is a dot and B is a dash. Then decode the ciphertext (AABBABABBAA etc) using a Baconian cipher, then decode the output of the Baconian cipher with an Atbash cipher to obtain another location from the list.

Visiting the sixth location yields the sixth symbol: a series of horizontal and vertical lines with the name "EDWARD" prominently featured between them.

Seventh Message

The seventh symbol, "George" (credit to Noizex)

After finding the sixth symbol, the MCOM's lights turn to a pink colour. Here's an example seventh message, which is a Vigenere cipher:

PXCGRJIEWSVPIQPVRUIQJEJDPOEEJFEQXETOSWDEUDWHJEDLIVANVPMHOCRQFHYLFWLHZAJDPOEEJDPZWOJXWHED

This transmission is encoded via Vigenere Cipher with the key "Edward". It decodes to:

LUGGAGEBASEMENTVARENNESALLIESCANBECLOTHEDASENEMIESENEMIESCANBECLOTHEDASALLIESALWAOSUSEID
LUGGAGE BASEMENT VARENNES ALLIES CAN BE CLOTHED AS ENEMIES. ENEMIES CAN BE CLOTHED AS ALLIES. ALWAYS USE ID

In the example above, LUGGAGE BASEMENT VARENNES may be replaced with any of the locations from the complete list. Going to the specified location reveals the seventh symbol, which prominently displays the word "George" above a crude drawing.

Eighth Message

The eighth symbol (credit to Noizex)

After finding the seventh symbol, the MCOM's lights turn to a lime colour. Here's an example eighth message, which is an Autokey cipher:

ONADIFZWMPTJSHJGXROUUEKUWFHGJHNWUYMESYQYXXFAWAUGQNMESY

This message decodes to the following, by using an Autokey cipher with passphrase of "George" and alphabet key of ZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY:

HILLBARNADRIATICFINALBELIEVEEVERYTHINGREPORTEVERYTHING
HILL BARN ADRIATIC FINAL BELIEVE EVERYTHING REPORT EVERYTHING

In the example above, HILL BARN ADRIATIC may be replaced with any of the locations from the complete list. The eighth symbol, which is just the word "LONDON", will be at the specified location.

Ninth Message

After discovering the eighth "LONDON" symbol, the MCOM's lights turn cyan. In a deviation from the normal structure of the Morse code, this cipher is identical for everyone:

ZQBRIPPQOHBFIUPEYLAZAMARZIOZDSYJB

After a long search, it was finally discovered that reversing the above ciphertext and using the reverse as input for an autokey cipher with key "LONDON" and custom alphabet ZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY yields:

PUKOOLYNOCLABLLIMDNIWWODAHSSTNAIG

If you reverse this output, it reads:

GIANTSSHADOWWINDMILLBALCONYLOOKUP

GIANTS SHADOW WINDMILL BALCONY LOOK UP

A Beginning

The final Morse code, once deciphered, directs the player to the balcony of a windmill on the map Giant's Shadow; specifically, the windmill nearest to the German spawn point. Standing on the balcony of the windmill and looking outward/slightly upwards (video) while waiting for exactly two minutes will trigger a courier pigeon to swoop past the player. The same dramatic sound effect heard when viewing the symbols will play, and it is a this point that a new dogtag becomes available to the player. The tag is named "A Beginning", and has the description "You've found something that does not belong to you". It should be noted that a player will only be able to trigger the pigeon if their MCOM is on the cyan lights stage (stage 9) - you cannot skip the previous stages. If the dramatic sound does not trigger when the pigeon passes, the process must be repeated until the sound is triggered. Some reports indicate that the sound will not trigger unless the pigeon passes through the player, touching them. Nonetheless, if the pigeon is flying past you, you are at the right stage and have completed the necessary prerequisites.

In addition to the dogtag, the player's MCOM lights will change to a red color. Another Morse code message can be heard with headphones, but at a lower pitch than before, and accompanied by eerie background noise and apparent screaming (video). The message decodes to:

MASTER MAN

The code repeats indefinitely. The meaning of MASTER MAN has yet to be determined, and the whispering/screaming noises in the background have yet to be clearly transcribed. It has been noted that the Morse code definitely has a space between "Master" and "Man".

One popular but unproven interpretation of the MASTER MAN code is that it refers to Charles Masterman, a prominent British politician who worked in the propaganda department during WWI. Reinforcing this theory is the presence of the letters "CM", found on the dogtag, which could be Charles Masterman's initials. However, the presence of a space in the Morse code detracts from this theory.

Another theory is that MASTER MAN refers to a radio operator, as shown below. As shown, he has access to telegraphs and colored light signals on a master control board. Through an in-game message by a DICE employee, we were told that "Red is a signal color", in response to queries about the red MCOM light.

Additional Resources

All the MCOM station light colours:

• 

  Stage 1 (white lights)

• 

  Stage 2 (yellow lights)

• 

  Stage 3 (purple lights)

• 

  Stage 4 (green lights)

• 

  Stage 5 (clear lights)

• 

  Stage 6 (orange lights)

• 

  Stage 7 (pink lights)

• 

  Stage 8 (lime lights)

• 

  Stage 9 (cyan lights)

• 

  Stage 10 (red lights)

The following image was datamined after the release of the February 14, 2017 patch:

Between its colour channels, this image contains all of the symbols mentioned above.

They Shall Not Pass

On March 14, the "They Shall Not Pass" DLC became accessible for Premium Pass owners. The DLC added a variety of new features, including 4 new maps: Verdun Heights, Soissons, Rupture, and Fort De Vaux.

The ARG had no further developments until April 27.

Records and Gramophones

Locations of records and gramophone on Fort De Vaux (made by Mudf4ce)

On Fort de Vaux, a vinyl record can be found hidden in different places, pictured right. Much like the headphones, the records are indestructible and can be found on every server - only one record spawns at a time, in one of the 5 discovered spawn locations. These records were stationary physics objects until April 27, when the game was updated to allow the player to pick them up.

There is also a gramophone hidden on Fort de Vaux. Bringing a record to the gramophones and pressing the interact button, it plays a muffled piano sound that can be viewed here. The song plays at 80bpm, with all natural notes. The song spans 4 octaves. Every note is repeated at least once. Using the French musical cryptogram, the message can be decoded as follows:

SO YOU ARE HERE FOR THE SECRET THAT LIES BELOW VAUX. MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY FOR THIS JOURNEY.
DO NOT THINK IT WILL BE EASY, AND DO NOT EXPECT ANY REWARD. ALL YOU WILL FIND IS DEATH.
A HINT; THAT IS ALL I HAVE FOR YOU, SO LISTEN CLOSELY:
THE MEN THAT LIVED HERE KNEW ITS SECRETS. SEARCH WHERE THEY RESTED WHEN THEY DID NOT WORK.

After bringing a record to the gramophone, an array of numbers and letters appears on a nearby book:

This array is actually a key square which can be used along with a keyword to decipher an ADFGVX Cipher.

Chairs and Morse

On Fort De Vaux, three different chairs can be found. If the player stands directly on the chair, there will be a blinking light in its line of sight. The blinks are Morse code. Once translated, all of the messages contained a sequence of pairs of letters. Every sequence can easily be identified as an ADFGVX Cipher due to the fact that the pairs are only composed of letters A, D, F, G, V, and X.

Using the Key Square that was previously found in [Records and Gramophones] and different keywords, these translate to phrases in German.

The decoded phrases are instructions triggering the Megalodon event.

Chair in the panel room between A and C

Morse decodes to:

FF DG DF DF VD FG GV FD FF FD FG FX FV FV GF GF GG FG DG VD VF XF XF VX VX FG XD FV VF FF FF XD FV DF GF XF FX FX FD FX XD DX FF FD VD FG DA GA FA GD DD FF XD GD VF GF DF FF DV VV VG FV DX FV GG VF VG XG FX GF AD VD VD FD DG FD DV DF VX

ADFGVX Keyword: BAREBOAT

ADFGVX Plaintext:

DREITREUESEELENWERDENDABENOETIGTWOESOFFENSICHTLICHISWOESDUNKELISTUNDTIEFIMPRECK

ADFGVX translation:

Drei treue Seelen werden da benoetigt, wo es offensichtlich ist, wo es dunkel ist und tief im Dreck.

German to English:

Three faithful souls will be needed where it's obvious, dark, and deep in the dirt.

Chair in the Kitchen

Morse decodes to:

VG GV FF XX VV VF FF FV GF DX XX FF DX DX VF GF DF FX FF DV DV FG DF AF DF GG XX VV FF FX VF XF GF FV XF XD GX AD DX GF GG GV FX VD XD FG VV VD FG

ADFGVX Keyword: BFEEISLOVE

ADFGVX Plaintext:

BRINGSACRIFICESTILLTHEWATERTURNSREDMAKEITPERSONAL

Properly spaced:

Bring sacrifices till the water turns red.  Make it personal.

Chair in the Ammunition Depot

Morse decodes to:

GF DV DG XG AF XV XA FF XF DD XV DG DX DG FV VX DX VF VD AA FG VA XX FG VX VF DG AF XG GV FF DF GF VF VF GV GD XV FG FD XX

Direct ADFGVX translation:

ADFGVX Keyword: RACER

ADFGVX Plaintext:

LABETEDORTSOUSVAUXSEULLEBRUITLAREVEILLERA

Formatted ADFGVX translation:

La bête dort sous Vaux. Seul le bruit la réveillera.

French to English:

The beast sleeps under Vaux. Only noise will wake it up.

Fort De Vaux - Valves and Megalodon

The locations of the valves on Fort de Vaux

On Fort de Vaux, three turnable valves can be found across the map. If 3 players coordinate and turn these 3 valves at the same time, a puddle fills up near point C. An explosive grenade must then be thrown in the hole near B point. After 3-4 people die inside the puddle created by turning the valves, the puddle turns red with blood, and the megalodon will eventually jump out:

The shark erupting from the puddle (courtesy of JambaJeww)

It is unclear whether the presence of the shark is tied to the rest of the ARG. Worth noting is that the records found on Fort De Vaux read Les Requins and You're gonna need a bigger moat. "Requins" is french for "sharks" and "You're gonna need a bigger moat" is a reference to Jaws. The fact that there are shark-related phrases on the records suggest that the shark and the records may be connected.

Prise de Tahure Update

On July 20, 2017, another map was added to the game called Prise de Tahure. Located on the map were several records, along with a gramophone, much like in the Megalodon easter egg. Bringing a record to a gramophone plays the Battlefield theme. If the records and gramophone have another purpose, it is unknown at this time.

Four Square Cipher

The code that appeared on Soissons, along with the hints above it

Also on July 20, a cipher was added to Soissons. Above it were several graphical hints, including the icon of the A Beginning dogtag that was unlocked earlier in the ARG. The text of the cipher is as follows:

YPIVEZKUSYRNHZELDWSOMSPXINALXGWNHACPLTVZPNCPLBRPVXYPTHWNHQALYG

When solved as a four-square cipher using the keywords of MASTER and MAN, and reversing the remainder of the alphabet, the cipher was decoded:

INSIDE THE CHATEAU WHEN ALL IS DARK THERE YOU GO AND YOU WILL FIND THE SPARKS

Lights Out

Turning on all of the candles causes this mechanical noise to be heard.

It was discovered that snuffing out every light source in the castle on the Soisson map causes a mechanical sound effect to play. These light sources include candles, chandeliers, and lanterns. After doing this, the candles become interactable - players can switch them on or off. Interacting with candles causes the states of surrounding candles to switch. Once all the candles have been illuminated, another mechanical noise is heard, which allows us to advance to the next stage.

Tile Patterns

A map of the castle, pillars, and statue, courtesy of TheRadGamerDan

After lighting up all the candles in the castle and hearing the second mechanical noise, some wall panels on pillars on the outside of the castle become interactable. There are 8 pillars on the north side of the castle, and 8 on the south side. Using any of the pillar panels illuminates a random pattern of tiles on the inside floor of the castle.

A pattern of sandbags on the square stairs around the statue

To the north-east of the castle, there is a statue sunk into the ground, along with 8 concentric square steps leading down towards it. After the second mechanical noise is heard, a randomly-generated pattern of sandbags appear on these steps. The goal of this stage of the Easter egg is to manipulate the floor lights inside the castle in such a way that their pattern matched the pattern of sandbags near the statue. However, the puzzle was figuring out exactly how to perform this task.

One initial pattern of lit-up tiles in the floor of the castle

The pattern of tiles inside the castle consists of an 8 by 8 grid. The pattern of tiles that is illuminated to begin with seems to be randomly-generated, and has no bearing on the Easter egg. Each individual tile can be manipulated using a pair of wall panels. There are 8 panels on the north side of the castle, and 8 panels on the south side - each panel corresponds to either a row or a column on the grid. Pressing the pair of panels corresponding to a specific row and column cause the appropriate light to toggle on or off. For example, if you were to press the "2nd column" panel and the "4th row" panel, then the light in position (2, 4) on the board would be toggled.

However, there is a twist: the rows and columns the panels correspond to are completely randomized in each server. There is no grouping to the panels; for example, not all panels on the north side are the row-controlling panels. This randomization means that players need to use trial and error in each game in order to determine which panels activate which rows and columns. Once each panel's functionality has been determined, matching the lights up with the sandbags is a fairly simple (if tedious) task.

The precise method of determining which lights need to be turned on from the sandbags can be seen by comparing the diagram below with the pattern of sandbags shown above:

A Conflict

File:Bf1 Conflict Dogtag

The "A Conflict" dogtag, awarded to all players on a server once the tile puzzle has been completed

Once the tile/sandbag puzzle has been completed, the A Conflict dogtag is awarded to all players on the server. It has the same skull icon as the #A Beginning dogtag, but is silver instead of bronze. The description is as follows:

The voices have been silent for far too long.