Directive 8020: Every Secret Location Across All 8 Episodes

Every secret in Directive 8020, found fast

Directive 8020 packs 60 collectibles across its 8 episodes: 50 regular secrets, 10 Simms Recordings, and a handful of hidden 0 Death secrets that only unlock once you reach the late game. Most are easy enough to grab on a first pass, but a handful require codes, power rerouting, or taking a detour from the main path at exactly the right moment. Miss them and you will need to replay via Turning Points, though Explorer Mode removes the replay limit entirely. This guide covers every location in episode order, with codes included where needed.

Turning Points secrets tracker

How do secrets work in Directive 8020?

Secrets appear as physical objects, wall posters, datapads, books, audio logs, and computer monitors you activate with your Utility Strap. Each one belongs to a named collection (Sleep Crew, Cetus Mission, Cassiopeia, and so on), and collecting full sets contributes to achievements and trophies. The 0 Death secrets are a separate category entirely: they only appear after you collect a specific coin near the end of Episode 8, which then unlocks new collectibles scattered across earlier episodes.

The total breakdown is 50 regular secrets, 10 Simms Recordings, and 5 0 Death secrets, giving a true completion count of 65 items if you count the coin itself.

Episode 1: Little Star

Crew Quarters (8 secrets, 1 Simms Recording)

This is the most collectible-dense opening section in the game. As soon as you gain control of Tomas, do not move toward the objective yet.

• Stalemate: Chessboard on the table in the central room where Carter and Simms discuss the hull breach.
• Count Down: Calendar on the back right wall of the same room.
• Night Shift: Enter the sleeping quarters through the door on your right. Tablet on the desk.
• Simms Recording: Green Tea: Turn to face the doorway you just came through. Monitor on the left side of the door frame.
• Balance: Cross the hall to the opposite room. Bonsai tree on the right side of the desk.
• Daddy in Space: Same room, tablet on the bed at the back.
• Mission Summary: Move to the next room, go upstairs, turn left, and interact with the poster at the end of the hall.
• Pioneers: Turn around from Mission Summary and keep left. Activate the wall monitor with your Utility Strap to play a recording.
• Myths Retold: Head through the door to the right of the main objective into the bathroom. Book on the sink counter.

Medical (2 secrets, 1 Simms Recording)

Reaching Medical requires choosing to reject The Oracle's system reboot at the Episode 1 decision point.

• Brave New World: Keep to the left wall in the Medical Bay. Poster near the far end of the dark room.
• The Goldilocks Planet: After lifting the lockdown, use the window to the right of the main door to unlock a side office. Go inside and grab the tablet on the desk.
• Simms Recording: Patches: Exit that office and find the stairs on the other side of the hall. Monitor at the top.

Episode 2: Best Laid Plans

Simple Pleasures (1 secret)

• Perfect Replica: Playing as Young after exiting your pod, look toward the back right wall and activate the monitor with your Utility Strap.

Ship Shape (2 secrets, 1 Simms Recording)

• Print As Needed: As soon as you enter the Reactor Room as Brianna, turn around. Poster on the wall behind you.
• In Denial: Walk across the catwalk past the middle door. Poster on the left wall.
• Simms Recording: Red Alert: Walk toward the reactor console, then go up the stairs on the right. Monitor on the wall.

Sleuth (11 secrets, 1 Simms Recording)

This is the longest single section for collectibles in the game. Playing as Laura (Eisele), work through the Atrium and Crew Complex methodically.

• Carter: Immediately on your left as you take control. Wall monitor, activate with Utility Strap.
• Bad Press: Walk to the large head statue in the main hall. Tablet on the bench directly in front of it.
• Frosted: Head upstairs. Use the window to unlock the party room door, then go inside. Cake on the first coffee table.
• No Object: Second coffee table in the same party room. Tablet on the edge.
• Weak Spots: Back downstairs toward the Crew Complex. Stop at the benches past the first set of stairs. Tablet on the top bench.
• Wish You Were Here: Go back up the nearby stairs but do not enter the Crew Lounge. Tablet on the chairs just outside the doors.
• Professional Chemistry: Enter the Crew Lounge. Walk past the video screen of Simms and Carter and check the counter along the wall.
• Father's Footsteps: Exit the Lounge via the far door, turn left, go downstairs. Picture frame on the floor near a floating crate.
• Paving the Way: A few steps forward from Father's Footsteps. Book on the floor near some crates, across from the Locker Room entrance.
• Simms Recording: Sweet Dreams: Enter the Locker Room. Monitor on the left wall immediately on entry.
• At Any Cost: At the keypad inside the Locker Room, enter code 13576. This drops security on the right-side lockers. Open them and grab the book inside.
• Promises: Behind the keypad monitor, look up and left to find another security switch. Activating it opens the left-side lockers. Tablet inside.

Episode 3: The Sample

Gear Up (1 Simms Recording)

• Simms Recording (unnamed in early sources): Progress into the Tool Storage room. Turn left immediately on entry. Monitor on the wall.

Search (6 secrets, 1 Simms Recording)

Playing as Cooper throughout this section.

• Words of Affirmation: Look right as soon as you take control. Book on the table.
• Simms: Climb through the window into the next area. Turn left and head to the back left corner behind the racking. Audio log on a monitor.
• Nutrimito: Move forward past the knocked-over shelf. Red button on the left wall. Enter code 0402 to open the food storage compartment. Leaflet inside.
• Game Changer: Place the battery in the door and head into the next room. Tablet on the counter immediately to your left.
• Fit to Fly: From Game Changer, turn right. Open the door with your Utility Strap. Tablet at the back of the bathroom area.
• A Friend Indeed: Head to the far end of the room and open the window controls. Look right through the window to see a table with a tablet.
• Simms Recording: Special Permissions: Go to the next room, down the stairs, and left. Monitor behind the stairs.

Food storage code 0402

Episode 5: Mr. Williams

Drugs (2 secrets)

• Charybdis: Take control of Cooper and turn left through the non-objective door. Monitor on the right wall inside.
• Terraformation: Head into the room with Anders. After the scene, move behind Anders to the back of the room. Turn on the monitor there.

Radio Silence (3 secrets, 1 Simms Recording)

Now playing as Cernan.

• Orbital Oddities: Turn around and head upstairs. Monitor at the top. Enter code 3196 (derived from the note reading CAIF, where each letter converts to its alphabet position: C=3, A=1, I=9, F=6). Scroll through all screens after unlocking.
• To Do List: Follow the long hall all the way to the cockpit. Tablet on the right inside.
• Simms Recording: Hostile Fire: Head back and into the next area. At the path split, go left and jump the box. Reroute power at the control panel to open the storage room. Recording at the back.
• Love Lost: Take the elevator and progress until you see Cooper heading through a door. Before following her, go down the nearby stairs and turn left. Photo frame on the seats next to the large field picture. Turn it over.

For more puzzle solutions in Episode 5, the Anders sedative puzzle guide walks through the chemical agents keypad in detail.

Episode 6: Hostile Takeover

Detour (6 secrets, 1 Simms Recording)

Playing as Stafford for most of this section.

• Simms Recording: Field Agent: Turn around on episode start and go to the Exec Office. Monitor at the back.
• Cernan: Return to the previous room, turn left, go through the next door. Find the vent on your right and enter it. Take the first left inside the vent and exit into a room. Monitor in the back left corner.
• McNamara's Secret: Move into the storage-style room ahead. Monitor on the right wall before the next vent.
• Making the Call: Progress until you need to cross a gap. Drop from the stairs, squeeze through the gap, climb the obstacle, and look left to find a power rerouting panel. Direct power to the door behind the obstacle. Go through, enter the back office, and jump through the broken window. Tablet on a crate.
• Meet the Tardigrades: After collecting the Power Cell, continue to the hall where you spot Cernan. Astroscience room on your right. Open it with your Utility Strap. Monitor on the left wall inside.
• Stafford: Meet Cernan, insert the battery cell, and go through to the next room. Turn left. Monitor ahead on the right.
• Faster Than Fiction: Same room, head to the center near the Solar System hologram display. Tablet on the desk.

Episode 7: Revelation

Search Party (1 secret)

• Cracks Appear: Follow the trail past the waterfall. When the path splits after Anders sends a second message, take the left branch (not the main path). Broken helmet on the ground. Stop before the area where rocks almost fall on you.

Pod Room (2 secrets)

• McNamara's Confession: Enter the large room with fans and pods. Turn left, follow the path, turn left again, and go up the small stairs. Turn left once more to find a ladder you can lower. Climb up. Monitor on the catwalk at the top.
• Mitchell: Continue through to the Reactor Elevator. Walk just past it before interacting. Audio log monitor on the wall.

Geoscience (1 secret)

• Duplication Analysis: Playing as Cernan, turn around and find the power supply at the back. Reroute power to the door, move forward, and enter the door on your right. Look through the window and unlock the door at the far end. Go back out to the hall, then climb through the now-open window on your right. Tablet on the right side of the room.

Episode 8: Come True

Redirect (1 secret, 1 Simms Recording)

• See Attachment: As Stafford, look right immediately on taking control. Tablet in the corner.
• Simms Recording: Rabbit Hole: Progress to the stealth section and head downstairs. Reroute power to the locker room and go inside. Recording on the wall.

Atrium (1 secret)

• Worth Fighting For: Sneak through the first section and go upstairs. Turn left at the top. Tablet on a bench in the corner.

Mess Hall (3 secrets)

• Keeping Tabs: Instead of turning right toward the Mess Hall, go straight into Colony Control. Follow the halls to the last room on your right. Monitor on the wall.
• Williams 2.0: After sneaking through to the other side, enter the maintenance area. Second row of servers. Tablet on a small box at the back.
• Classified Orders: Move to the back of maintenance. Monitor on the back wall.

The Way Back (1 Simms Recording + 0 Death trigger)

• Simms Recording: At Peace: Find the empty battery slot in the hall. Note its location, grab the battery from the next room, and return to power the vent. Work through the server maze inside. Recording at the end.
• Coin (0 Death trigger): On the ground next to the At Peace monitor. Collecting this coin unlocks the 0 Death secret category across previous episodes.

Maintenance server room tablet

What are the 0 Death secrets?

Once you collect the coin in Episode 8's The Way Back section, five new secrets become available in earlier episodes. confirmed locations include:

• This Doesn't Belong Here: Episode 8, The Way Back, on the ground next to the At Peace monitor (the coin itself triggers this).
• The Man in the Bowler Hat: Return to Episode 1, Medical. Near the end of the chapter in the room with the breach, check the circular console area in the middle of the floor.
• Paranoia: Episode 3, Search. In the larger Mess Hall area, look past the digital food and drink menu signs on the far right. Monitor on the wall just past them.
• 0_DTH: Episode 5, Radio Silence. Head up the stairs toward the cockpit. About three-quarters down the hall on the left, monitor on the wall.
• Bloodlines: Episode 5, Radio Silence. Progress through the chapter, take the elevators, and instead of going through the objective door, go down the nearby stairs. Left at the bottom, then up the stairs at the end of the hall. Tablet on a bench at the top. Collecting this one triggers a Curator scene and marks the final secret in the game.

What collectible categories exist in Directive 8020?

The Neoseeker guide notes that secrets are organized into named collections rather than just a flat numbered list. Here is a summary of the categories and their sizes:

The Dark Picture Dolls are a separate collectible type. The first one (Du'Met) is found in Episode 1 near the music computer and recording terminal in the Crew Quarters. Go through the door into the storage room and grab the doll floating in the air.

For a full look at what to expect from the game before or after your playthrough, the Directive 8020 release date and content breakdown covers the episode structure and setting in detail.

Tips for 100% completion

• Use the Turning Points menu to track exactly how many secrets remain per chapter before you leave an episode.
• Explorer Mode removes replay restrictions entirely, making it the best option for a dedicated collectible run.
• The branching story means some sections may play in a different order on your first run. The secrets themselves do not change based on story choices, but your path through episodes might.
• The Locker Override Code 13576 in Episode 2 and the food storage code 0402 in Episode 3 are both fixed values. Neither requires finding a clue first, though the 0402 code is displayed on a nearby wall inside the locked room if you open it before grabbing the secret.
• If you want help with specific puzzle codes beyond the collectibles, the Carter's PC code guide covers Episode 2's key code puzzle in full.

For the full range of guides covering puzzles, choices, and more, the Directive 8020 guides collection has everything organized by episode.