A Mafia III junction box is an electrical utility station found throughout New Bordeaux that Lincoln Clay can wiretap using three TL-49 fuses and a crowbar. Wiretapping a junction box exposes all collectibles and enemy positions in that zone and unlocks the ability to recruit rather than execute racket bosses.
There are 89 junction boxes in the base game spread across nine urban districts and Bayou Fantom, plus 3 additional boxes in Sinclair Parish if the Faster, Baby! DLC is active.
How Junction Boxes and Wiretapping Work
Wiretapping becomes available during the early story missions in Delray Hollow after meeting John Donovan and tackling the Smack racket. When Donovan briefs you on a district, junction box locations populate your map with a grey, upside-down U-shaped icon.
Opening a junction box requires a lock-pulling mini-game with your crowbar. Unlike locked doors, which give you three attempts before forcing a noisy kick, failing a junction box mini-game simply resets the attempt without penalty. However, tampering with utility lines is treated as an active crime in New Bordeaux. If New Bordeaux police officers witness Lincoln jimmying a box, they will open fire immediately.
Once three TL-49 fuses are inserted into a junction box:
- The zone on your map turns green (except in Sinclair Parish, where color shifts do not occur).
- All uncollected TL-49 fuses, Playboy magazines, Vargas paintings, Album covers, Hot Rod magazines, Communist propaganda posters, and Repent magazines in that sector appear on your pause menu map.
- Intel View highlights all enemies in that zone in red, even through solid walls, without requiring Lincoln to visually spot them first.
- The racket boss assigned to that territory can be flipped for increased syndicate earn instead of killed.
Total Junction Boxes by District
Unlocking every base-game junction box requires 267 TL-49 fuses, while fully tapping all 92 boxes including the Sinclair Parish expansion requires 276 fuses. Because hundreds of fuses are scattered across rooftops, backyards, and industrial yards, there are significantly more fuses available across the map than you need to finish every box.
| District / Region | Junction Box Count | TL-49 Fuses Needed |
|---|---|---|
| Delray Hollow | 5 | 15 |
| Pointe Verdun | 7 | 21 |
| Barclay Mills | 10 | 30 |
| Downtown | 10 | 30 |
| French Ward | 9 | 27 |
| Frisco Fields | 11 | 33 |
| River Row | 9 | 27 |
| Southdowns | 9 | 27 |
| Tickfaw Harbor | 9 | 27 |
| Bayou Fantom | 10 | 30 |
| Sinclair Parish (DLC) | 3 | 9 |
| Total | 92 | 276 |
Flipping Racket Bosses vs. Killing Them
Junction boxes play a central role in district takeovers and the trophies tied to them. In Mafia III, each of the nine districts contains two rackets, yielding 18 racket bosses in total. Two of these bosses—Merle Jackson in Delray Hollow's prostitution racket and Chester Moreau in Frisco Fields' Southern Union—are scripted to die regardless of your actions.
For the remaining 16 bosses, Lincoln has the option to recruit them, which is required for The New Boss achievement and trophy. To flip a racket boss:
- Locate the star objective marker where the boss confronts Lincoln.
- Check the district grid to see which junction box covers that specific zone.
- Install three fuses into that junction box before starting the final boss confrontation.
- When subduing the boss, press the prompt to recruit rather than kill.
If a zone remains un-wiretapped when you confront a boss, Lincoln will have no choice and will automatically execute them.
Players pursuing the No Loose Ends trophy (which requires executing all racket bosses) should deliberately avoid wiretapping racket confrontation zones. Leaving the junction boxes dormant ensures you never accidentally recruit a boss during combat runs.
Tricky and Hidden Junction Box Locations
Most junction boxes sit in accessible exterior alleys or alongside roadside utility posts, but a few frequently confuse players:
The Downtown Missing Box
A persistent issue reported by players in the Downtown district involves an icon that appears near the canals or large towers. This junction box is located inside a multi-level underground parking garage next to the tall skyscraper. Entrances to the underground structure sit adjacent to the skyscraper and to the left of the building marking the map icon. You cannot access this box via the waterways or surface rooftops.
Bayou Fantom Exploration
Unlike the nine urban districts where John Donovan's briefings reveal all utility locations on your map, the swampy expanse of Bayou Fantom does not mark junction boxes automatically upon entry. You must explore the bayou directly; individual boxes only appear on your map when Lincoln drives or walks into close proximity to them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to wiretap every junction box to recruit racket bosses?
No. You only need to wiretap the specific junction box whose boundary contains the racket boss's hideout. Tapping every other box in the district is optional.
Can you recruit racket informants without wiretapping?
Yes. Unlike racket bosses, informants can be flipped or executed during interrogation sequences without needing a nearby wiretapped junction box.
Do wiretaps carry over to a new playthrough?
What should I do if a junction box says I do not have enough parts?
Search nearby alleys, rooftops, and back porches for green markers on your mini-map. Each junction box strictly requires three TL-49 fuses to activate.
