Gentleman's Agreement (GA) in Call of Duty: Unwritten CDL Rules

A Gentleman's Agreement, shortened to GA, is an unwritten rule among professional Call of Duty players: they agree not to use a weapon, item or feature that the official ruleset does not restrict. It is a players' decision, not a game setting, and it sits on top of the league's written rules. This page separates the two and gives one documented example from the 2026 season. For related terms in the glossary, see the GA list entry.

Official ruleset versus GA

	Official ruleset	Gentleman's Agreement
Who decides	League administration with player and coach representatives	The players, by majority agreement
Where written	Published competitive settings	Not written by the league
Applies to	Every league match	Only the teams that accept it
Typical content	Banned weapons, attachments, perks, streaks, maps, modes	Items that are legal but considered too strong or too frustrating

The Black Ops 7 competitive settings that governed the 2026 CDL season (the official page on callofdutyleague.com, restricted list last published on 23 April 2026; the Esports Wiki's version 1.3 of 29 July only changed the Hardpoint maps) show how much is already official. It uses three modes, Hardpoint, Search and Destroy and Overload, and it restricts all LMGs, marksman rifles, shotguns and launchers, the Shadow SK and XR-3 Ion snipers, all lasers, thermal optics and some muzzles, plus equipment such as Stim Shot, C4 and Molotov. The Perk 1 to Perk 3 lists include Ghost, Tac Sprinter, Engineer and Cold-Blooded, and the Streaks list includes UAV, Counter UAV, Care Package and Napalm Strike. Anything not on those lists is legal unless a GA forbids it.

A 2026 example: snipers

During CDL Major 1 in February 2026, Black Ops 7 sniper rifles were technically allowed in Search and Destroy, but under a GA teams could use them for only two rounds per map. Some players and fans argued a single sniper pick could swing a map because of aim assist. The pros then briefly agreed to ban snipers altogether. On 11 February 2026 the community news account CDL Intel reported that snipers were back, after the league build gained a "No Aim Assist on Snipers" setting. The same day, Treyarch associate design director Lawrence Metten said Ranked Play would disable sniper auto aim to match the new league settings.

This is the lifecycle of many GAs: players impose a temporary restriction, then the league or the developer turns it into a setting or a patch, and the GA ends.

Where a GA applies

• League and Majors: the CDL ruleset covers the official matches; a GA covers the gaps.
• Ranked Play: Warzone and multiplayer ranked playlists have their own official restrictions, which Treyarch and Raven publish in patch notes. For example, Warzone's Season 06 notes (from 16 September 2026) lifted several Ranked Play loadout restrictions, including the M10 Breacher shotgun, the Arrow 109 and A.R.C. M1 launchers and the Solaris Holo-IR optic.
• Public matches: no GA applies. Players there can use anything the game allows.

Which ruleset is current

For the 2026 season (December 2025 to July 2026), the document above is the reference. For 2027, the league's season announcement of 14 October 2026 confirms Modern Warfare 4 and a start on Friday 4 December 2026 with the Kickoff Classic; the Call of Duty Esports Wiki lists 12 teams and an end date of 11 July 2027. On 2 November 2026 the league's Competitive Settings page still showed the Black Ops 7 rules, so any Modern Warfare 4 item list is unofficial until the league updates it.

Common mix-ups

• GA vs ban: a ban is in the published ruleset; a GA is a player agreement that can end overnight.
• GA vs Ranked restriction: a Ranked Play restriction is a developer setting for ladder matches, not something players chose.
• GA vs a patch: if a developer nerfs a weapon, the GA on it usually becomes unnecessary.

Related terms

• Settings, ranked and anti-cheat glossary: Ranked Play and competitive settings.
• Warzone, DMZ and contracts glossary: competitive terms.
• UAV and Care Package: restricted streaks.
• Call of Duty wiki: all Call of Duty terms.

FAQ

What does GA mean in Call of Duty?

Gentleman's Agreement: an informal agreement among pro players not to use something that the official rules allow.

Is a GA enforced by the league?

The league does not write it. The sniper example shows that GAs are settled among the teams, and the league can later turn the issue into an official setting. How teams treat a GA that is broken is not documented in the sources this page used.

Does the GA apply to ranked or public matches?

No. Ranked Play has official developer restrictions, and public matches have none.

What is the ruleset for the 2027 season?

The 2027 season starts on 4 December 2026 on Modern Warfare 4, according to the league. On 2 November 2026 its Competitive Settings page still showed Black Ops 7, so check that page for the Modern Warfare 4 version.