Black Ops 7 Loadout Rules for Every Mode
Your Black Ops 7 loadout in a DuelX money match is decided by the ruleset before it's decided by the meta: scorestreaks are switched off in Hardpoint, Search & Destroy and Overload, Kill Race allows exactly four, and Gunfight carries no restricted items at all. Unlike the legacy Black Ops titles, the published BO7 rulesets don't ban a single weapon, perk or attachment — the constraints sit in the scorestreak slot, the equipment timing and the host settings instead.
That changes how you should think about building classes for a black ops 7 loadout you're putting money behind. You're not optimising around a ban list. You're optimising around a lobby where half the usual crutches are toggled off before the first spawn.
Are scorestreaks allowed in a Black Ops 7 money match?
In three of the five BO7 modes they're off completely: Hardpoint, Search & Destroy and Overload all run Scorestreaks — Off. Kill Race is the only mode that allows any, and it allows four.
Here's how the scorestreak slot resolves per mode:
- Search & Destroy — Scorestreaks Off
- Hardpoint — Scorestreaks Off
- Overload — Scorestreaks Off, with Scorestreak Delay set to 10 Seconds and Sudden Death H.A.R.P turned Off
- Kill Race — four allowed, listed below
- Gunfight — no restricted items, and the ruleset states no changes are needed when hosting
The practical read: in three of five modes, anything you'd normally earn your way into mid-game simply isn't part of the match. The class you load in with is the class you finish with.
Which scorestreaks can you run in BO7 Kill Race?
Four, and all four are recon: Scout Pulse, UAV, Counter UAV and HARP. Nothing that deals damage is on the list.
That's a meaningful detail for a mode scored on eliminations. Kill Race is won by the team with the most combined eliminations inside a 10-minute clock, run on the Quick Play playlist, and ties break first on top individual eliminations and then on most score. Every streak you're allowed to bring finds bodies or hides yours — none of them get kills for you. Build for the gunfight, and treat the streak slot as information rather than output.
A few more Kill Race rules worth knowing before you slot anything: if you join a lobby already in progress, both players have to leave and restart immediately. If opposing randoms leave a public lobby you play the match out, but if everyone leaves you replay with stats carried over. Capture proof either way.
Does equipment work differently in a BO7 cash match?
Yes, and it's mode-specific rather than a ban. Search & Destroy runs Equipment Delay — 5 Seconds while Overload runs Equipment Protection — 0 Seconds, so identical equipment behaves differently depending on which match you accepted.
Nothing in the BO7 rulesets removes equipment from your class. What the settings do is change when it becomes live and how long it survives, which is what actually decides whether it's worth a slot. A five-second delay on an S&D round opener is a different proposition from equipment that can be destroyed the instant it lands in Overload.
What host settings change how your BO7 loadout plays?
Each mode has its own required setup, and several of the toggles affect gunplay and information directly rather than just the scoreboard. Search & Destroy and Hardpoint both run the CDL mode with the rules unlocked so the changes can be applied; Overload runs the DEFAULT mode with changes applied on top.
Search & Destroy: Killcams On, Team Assignment On, Automatic Doors On, Scorestreaks Off, Equipment Delay 5 Seconds. The host rehosts and resets rules after each map, and the non-hosting team picks its starting side.
Hardpoint: Allow Callout Pings Off, Automatic Doors Off, Killcams On, Respawn Delay 3 Seconds, Team Assignment On, Scorestreaks Off.
Overload: Weapon Mounting Off, Input Swap Allowed Off, Battle Chatter Off, Dynamic Map Elements Off, Carrier Personal Radar Off, Equipment Protection 0 Seconds, Respawn Delay 3.5 Seconds, Suicide Respawn Delay 1 Second, Friendly Fire On.
Weapon Mounting — Off in Overload is the one that most directly changes how a class performs, since it removes a mechanic you'd otherwise lean on holding an angle. Allow Callout Pings — Off in Hardpoint and Battle Chatter — Off in Overload both strip free information out of the lobby, which is the same reason Kill Race's recon streaks matter so much.
There's one setting you choose rather than read. When you post a BO7 challenge you select whether PC players are allowed and whether the match is controller-only or open to controller and mouse-and-keyboard, and both choices are written onto the match card. Check that line before you accept, because the input your opponent is on is part of what you're building against.
Which BO7 maps do you need to build for?
Each mode carries its own pool, and they're published before you enter. Search & Destroy runs Den, Scar, Raid, Fringe, Gridlock and Plaza.
- Search & Destroy — Den, Scar, Raid, Fringe, Gridlock, Plaza. The ruleset also publishes CDL match-finder and CMG variant pools, so check which one your match is set to.
- Hardpoint — Colossus, Den, Gridlock, Sake, Scar
- Overload — Den, Exposure, Scar
- Gunfight — Abyss, Cortex, Flagship, Nexus, Odysseus, Onsen, Paranoia, Torque, Yakei
Den, Scar and Gridlock turn up across multiple pools, which is worth knowing if you play more than one mode: a class that works for you on those three carries further than one built for a single pool. Gunfight is the outlier with nine maps of its own and no crossover.
Does team size change what you should run?
It does, because not every mode offers every size. Search & Destroy is 3v3 and 4v4 only, Gunfight is 2v2 only, and Hardpoint, Overload and Kill Race all run 1v1 through 4v4.
That matters for class building more than it looks. Gunfight is 2v2 rounds, first to 6. Search & Destroy is first to 6 rounds with no overtime. Kill Race is most kills in 10 minutes. A 1v1 Hardpoint and a 4v4 Search & Destroy are different games with different information available, and the mode with no scorestreaks, no pings and a three-second respawn rewards something different from the one scored purely on eliminations. BO7 supports PlayStation, Xbox, PC and cross-play, and platform is set per match — more detail on that sits in our guide to Black Ops 7 ranked play.
How do BO7 loadout rules compare with Black Ops II and Black Ops?
The legacy titles are far stricter, and they're strict in opposite directions. Black Ops II publishes a ban list; the original Black Ops publishes a whitelist.
Black Ops II Search & Destroy restricts the M8A1 and MSMC as primaries (with the DSR 50 and Ballista restricted only when the challenge option is enabled), the B23R and Combat Knife as secondaries, and ten attachments including Quickdraw, Extended Mag, FMJ, Laser Sight and both the EOTech and Reflex sights. All five Greed and Gunfighter wildcards are out, as are Lightweight, Toughness, Dexterity, Extreme Conditioning and Dead Silence. Semtex and Grenade are restricted lethals, and two Concussions aren't allowed. The same list carries over to Black Ops II Hardpoint.
Black Ops Search & Destroy flips to a whitelist. Perk 1 is Lightweight Pro only, Perk 2 is Sleight of Hand Pro or Steady Aim Pro, and Perk 3 is Marathon Pro, Ninja Pro or Tac Mask Pro. Frag Grenade and Semtex are the only allowed lethals, Stun Grenade the only tactical, and all equipment is banned outright — along with all shotguns, all LMGs, all sniper rifles, the FN FAL, the G11 and the M14. The Killstreak Editor is set to Don't Allow Killstreaks.
Both legacy titles allow preset classes but require at least Class 1 and Class 2 to be built. If they aren't, back out and set them up — no forfeit is issued for it.
Set against that, BO7 is permissive on what you bring and prescriptive on how the lobby runs. Neither list carries across titles, so read the one for the game you actually queued.
Where do you check the loadout rules before you stake an entry fee?
Every ruleset is published on the game's rules page with a version number printed next to its settings and map pool, so you can see which revision you're playing under. Read it before you accept, because a BO7 match played to completion under the wrong settings stands as played.
The rest of the entry flow is worth knowing in the same sitting. You pay the entry fee and a fee of 10% or $0.25, whichever is larger, comes off at entry; the remainder goes into the pot, and the winner takes 100% of the combined pot with nothing deducted at payout. Escrow locks when the match is accepted. Both sides report the score independently, and conflicting reports open a dispute automatically, where each side uploads evidence and a moderator rules on it. One BO7-specific trap: your Activision ID has to match the match details exactly, including the tag after the hash, and a mismatch is treated as a no-show.
Two things to do before your first paid match on a new class. Run it in an XP match first — free entry, same rulesets, same reporting and dispute flow — so the settings aren't new to you when there's money on it. Then check the in-product eligibility check, which is the only thing that tells you whether paid play is available where you are.
When the class is built and the ruleset is read, open BO7 cash matches are posted with their mode, team size, series length and entry fee on the card. The full settings and map pools live on the BO7 rules page, and the fee, escrow and dispute mechanics are laid out in the FAQ.