Is This a Reference? Tarkov Quest Guide and Camera Locations

"Is This a Reference?" is a quest from Fence in Escape from Tarkov. The task is to install 27 WI-FI cameras at spots on eight maps, each described only by a joke: a hole in a wall, a lonely chair, a bear in a burning car. Every spot imitates something from a film, game, meme or song, which is where the name comes from.

The quest details follow the official Escape from Tarkov wiki page as last edited on 28 October 2026.

Requirements and rewards

Item	Value
Given by	Fence
Player level	25
Scav karma	At least +1
Quest items	27 WI-FI Camera (Mechanic loyalty level 1 barter; buyable from Mechanic once you have accepted the quest Informed Means Armed), plus 1 Factory emergency exit key
Experience	+30,000
Roubles	200,000 (210,000 with Intelligence Center level 1, 230,000 with level 2)
Item	1 Streamer item case
Next quest	Can't Drink Away Skill

The rouble payout is fixed: 200,000 plus the Intelligence Center bonus. Scav karma is the part most players miss: it is the same value as your Fence reputation, and the quest stays locked below +1. Karma rises with Scav raids and extracts, Fence's Scav tasks and PMC car or co-op extracts, while killing other player Scavs lowers it.

Where the 27 cameras go

Counts per map: Streets of Tarkov 4, Ground Zero 3, Lighthouse 4, Reserve 3, Customs 3, Factory 7, Woods 1, Shoreline 2. The wiki gives these positions:

Map	Quest wording	Position
Streets	Burned girl's sickroom	Second floor of the children's polyclinic
Streets	Really scary hole in the wall	Bathroom of the Chekannaya st. 13 building
Streets	Barbed wire body	Chekannaya st. 13, near the marked room
Streets	Amphibian pizza lovers' hideout	Inside the Sewer River extraction
Ground Zero	High rise where a die-hard guy kicked ass	Behind the reception desk of the Nakatani building
Ground Zero	Computer with a joke for programmers	Kyshperski office in the Fusion building
Ground Zero	Little chair among big black chairs	Third-floor conference room of the Tarbank building
Reserve	Two chair riddle	Next to the watch tower near the train depot
Reserve	Every tank driver's first videogame	South wall of the White Bishop medical building
Reserve	Conscripts' important task	Southwest corner of the barracks parade ground
Customs	Bucket-head villain	Warehouse 6, second-floor bathroom, south part
Customs	Anvil 3-4 crew member's execution site	Warehouse 6, second floor, north part
Customs	Indie developer's worst nightmare	Dorms, room 212
Factory	Stairway to the skies	Inside the Gate 3 extraction
Factory	Conspiracy theorist's room	Locked third-floor room, needs the Factory emergency exit key
Factory	Firefighter who burned the books	First floor of the office area
Factory	Dangerous Russian chocolate beauty	Locker room next to the Gate 0 extraction
Factory	Valve technicians' third project	Next to the tank containers underground
Factory	Mother of all strategy games	Second floor of the laboratory, second room
Factory	Magic school wannabe	Next to Gate 2
Woods	Bear in a flaming car	South of the dilapidated village in the north, below power lines
Shoreline	Upside-down chair	Room in house no. 1, east of the west village; the door must be breached
Shoreline	Not-so-lonely bathroom	Bathroom of the office building at the pier

The four Lighthouse spots are on the wiki with screenshots: the ominous welcome sign is next to the construction cabins along the main road in the north, Wilson and the kindled rest place are by the western houses on the shore, and the megagenius scientist's seat is shown on a map image only.

What the jokes refer to

The wiki lists the intended references. A few examples: the high rise is Die Hard, the Anvil 3-4 spot is Battlefield 3, Wilson is Cast Away, the kindled rest place is Dark Souls, the firefighter's room is Fahrenheit 451, the Valve technicians point to Half-Life 3, the strategy game is Minesweeper and the stairway is the Led Zeppelin song. The "outside contact" in Fence's dialogue is read by the wiki as Deadpool. The "indie developer's nightmare" is aimed at Unity, the engine Tarkov is built on.

The reward case

The Streamer item case is a 3x3 container with an 8x11 grid (88 slots) and can hold only the items needed for the Collector quest. It cannot be sold on the flea market. The case also exists outside the quest: it was a Twitch promotion reward in September 2024. Patch 1.1.0 (3 August 2026) added 4 new streamer items to Collector, so the case matters more than before. See Streamer items and the barter and valuables glossary.

Tips

• Buy or barter all 27 cameras before the first raid, then carry only the ones for the map you are visiting.
• Do Factory in one run. Its seven spots are spread over the offices, the laboratory, the gates and the underground, and the locked office room needs the emergency exit key.
• Streets' pizza spot is mostly inside the extraction zone; the wiki notes a small area next to the left wall where the camera can be placed without extracting.
• Patch 1.1.5 (8 September 2026) added the follow-up task "Can't Drink Away Skill" from Ragman, which unlocks after this quest and rewards the Loui Peeton deluxe wallet.

Related terms

• Streamer items: the collectibles the case stores.
• Fence reputation guide: how Scav karma works in practice.
• Keys guide: where Factory and dorms keys come from.
• Raids, bosses and wipes glossary: map and raid terms.

FAQ

What level is Is This a Reference?

Level 25, and Scav karma must be at least +1. Fence gives it, and the wiki lists no earlier quest as a requirement.

How many cameras do you need?

27 WI-FI cameras. They can be bartered from Mechanic at loyalty level 1, and Mechanic also sells them once you have accepted the quest Informed Means Armed.

What does the quest give?

30,000 experience, 200,000 roubles (more with the Intelligence Center) and the Streamer item case. It unlocks the follow-up "Can't Drink Away Skill".

Is it different in PvE?

The wiki shows one set of objectives and rewards and no separate PvE version.