Payday 3: How to stealth Syntax Error

Syntax Error is Payday 3’s first paid DLC heist, and it can also be completed in stealth. How do you do that? Read our guide to help you sneak your way through the level.

In the Payday universe, cash is king. But nowadays, cash is stored digitally. That’s why Shade is sending the gang to a tech company called Scry Digital to steal servers from its data center.

If you own the DLC, the Syntax Error mission can be accessed from the “The Bad Apple” button on the Payday 3 heist selection menu. If you don’t own the DLC, you can still play it by joining a party with another player who does own it.

If you’re struggling to complete the heist without raising the alarm, here’s our guide to beating Syntax Error in stealth.

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How to stealth Syntax Error in Payday 3

First of all, make sure you’re using our recommended stealth loadout for Payday 3, as the skills will offer some much-needed help during your sneaky escapades in the game.

The Syntax Error heist will have between 6-7 guards on it, depending on your difficulty. These are the possible guard locations we’ve found:

• One guard by the metal detector
• One guard in the camera room
• One guard patrolling the upstairs hallway
• 3-4 guards patrolling the downstairs server room, one of these guards will be a Lead Guard on Overkill difficulty

It’s also advised you spare your radios for downstairs, for reasons we will go into later.

Once you begin the Syntax Error heist, head inside the main lobby and take note of the guard standing in front of the metal detector. Behind him is a door you need to get through locked with a keypad.

Syntax Error keypad code

The keypad combination is located on the upper floor. You can get there via a room on the right-hand side of the lobby. Distract the guard by the metal detector by interacting with the electronic billboard inside the lobby, then pick the lock and get in the room.

From here, access the vent and crawl through to the next area. Head up the stairs and into a new private area on the upper floor. Avoid the cameras and the guard patrolling up here and head to the office on the far side of the corridor.

The code for the keypad can be found by either hacking the PC or cracking the safe. It’s worth bearing in mind this code is randomized every time you play, so it won’t be the same code as ours.

After getting the code for the keypad, leave the office and head into the room located in the corner of the upper hallway. On lower difficulties, you’ll find a switch here which will disable the metal detector. You can head to the keypad door now either by heading downstairs and back into the lobby or by opening a vent in the same room and following it down to the keypad door area.

Syntax Error Red Keycard

After heading through the keypad door you’ll enter the underground data center. This whole place is a Secure Area, so you might as well mask up here. 

There will be 3-4 guards patrolling this area depending on your difficulty. Killing too many will also cause more to spawn from the elevators, so it’s wise to only kill them if you get caught.

Your first order of business will be to find a Red Keycard. This will be located inside a red box in one of three locations:

• By the bottom of the stairs leading up to the cooling center
• At the data verification center
• By the elevator leading up to the AI control room

Once you have a Red Keycard, you’ll be able to access two more locations on the upper floors of the basement; the Cooling Center and the AI Control Room.

Syntax Error find and verify the correct servers

Your next stop is the Cooling Center, which you can now open with the Red Keycard. Hack the PC and scroll through each email that pops up onscreen. Each email will have an assigned server room and will detail what is on the servers. 

You’re looking for three emails that detail something about experimental drone technology, and whichever server room corresponds with that information has the servers you need for the main objective.

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So your next step is to get into the correct server rooms and verify the server you need. Server room doors are locked and are guarding lasers and motion sensors. There are three ways to get into a room:

• Hacking the door with a QR code found from phones picked up around the level
• Climbing through air vents gives you access to the upper shelving which you can use to drop into a server room
• Use the Red Keycard to open the AI control room and interact with one of the monitors to open up a specific server room

Once you’re in the correct server room, look around for a server you can bag up. Each room has two servers. Be sure to also look out for the motion sensors patrolling the room. Each one will rotate between two server rooms so you have time to move around without it spotting you.

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Take the server to the central verification station at the end of the data center and throw it into the verification machine. It’ll take around 20 seconds to verify and then confirm or deny you have the right server. 

If it’s the right server it’ll stay lodged inside the terminal. If not, it’ll spit it back out as a bonus server you can bag later on. You’ll need to head back to the correct server room and bag up the other server though.

You’ll need to repeat this two more times, going to the other two server rooms as detailed on the emails, bag the servers, and verify them in the main terminal. If you want extra loot, feel free to bag up all the other servers and send them for verification.

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Syntax Error correct server

Once you have 3/3 servers, a bigger, heavier server will be available to pick up. This is the main objective loot and will require securing at the van upstairs. Take the side corridor out and head along back up to the Cooling Center. Exit through the door and back up the stairs into the main lobby of the building.

We still don’t want to alert anyone just yet, so once you’re back in the metal detector area, look immediately left and head into the air vent. You can use this air vent to traverse back up to the top floor.

From here, exit the room, turn left, and walk back to the staircase. Be careful of the cameras and the guard patrolling here. Head down the stairs. There will be a door here you can open which is where the van is located. Secure the bag in the van and exit when you’re ready to finish the heist. You’re now ready for Payday 3’s next DLC heist, Boys In Blue.

If not, you can head back to the complete heist list for your next big score. Find out which ones give you the fastest cash, and also learn when the next DLC pack launches.