Before the Great War, the Med-Tek Facility in Fallout 4 primarily researched cures for infectious diseases. One of the cures developed at this facility is called Prevent, which MacCready later seeks in an attempt to cure his son, Duncan, of an unknown disease that gave him blue boils.

While exploring the Med-Tek Facility, you'll run across a locked terminal that requires Jacob's Password to unlock it so you can use the terminal to remove the research facility's lockdown. However, knowing how to find Jacob's Password in Fallout 4 can be confusing for multiple reasons, including a strange design choice by Bethesda.

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How to Find Jacob's Password in Fallout 4 (Med-Tek Research)

Med-Tek Research Building Fallout 4

To find Jacob's password to unlock the terminal in the Med-Tek facility, you must first hire MacCready as a companion. To do so, venture to The Third Rail, a bar in the Goodneighbor settlement. Hiring him as a companion costs 250 caps, but this can be reduced with a successful Charisma check.

Once MacCready is on board, your next step is to raise his affinity to a minimum of 250. This will trigger the first part of the Long Road Ahead quest, where you'll be tasked with eliminating Winlock and Barnes at the Mass Pike Interchange. Subsequently, you'll need to increase MacCready's affinity to 750 to initiate the second part of the quest. During this phase, MacCready will reveal his son's illness and request your help in finding a cure at the Med-Tek Research facility.

Med-Tek Research Map Fallout 4

After arriving at the Med-Tek Facility, head to the west part of the building, which houses the executive offices. Here, you'll find the terminal that will remove the facility's lockdown so you can get the cure for Duncan. To use this terminal, you must track down Jacob's Password to unlock it.

Stand beside the terminal and converse with MacCready to obtain Jacob's Password. If successful, he will direct your attention to the nearby terminal, saying, "Check that terminal over there. This password from Sinclair better work." At this point, the Jacob's Password item will be added to your inventory, enabling you to unlock the terminal and continue with the quest.

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However, you may run into an issue where MacCready won't speak with you, or the quest log will say that he gave you Jacob's Password even if you don't have it in your inventory. If this happens, you have several options. First, ensure your affinity with MacCready is high enough, and your quest log has the second part of the Long Road Ahead quest. You can check your affinity level by opening the console window, clicking on MacCready, and typing the "getav CA_affinity" console command into the console window. However, remember that doing so will remove your ability to earn achievements. To avoid this, reload your game after you verify your affinity level.

Secondly, it is essential to eliminate all ghouls in the office, as any nearby can cause MacCready to glitch out. Thirdly, instruct MacCready to stay near the terminal while you leave the office. Upon returning, speak with him again. If you encounter a bug that MacCready won't talk to you, try reloading a save file before reaching the Med-Tek Research Facility. Finally, if all else fails, you can use console commands to progress the quest by typing "SetStage COMMacCreadyQuest 160" into the console window.

Jacob's Password in Covenant Fallout 4

One last thing worthy of mention is that it is possible to find a second terminal key in Fallout 4, also named Jacob's Password, by looting a nightstand in a house at the Covenant location. However, this is a different Jacob's Password, which unlocks access to Jacob's office terminal. Two different keys with the same name can be extremely confusing, since it can lead players to believe this is the key to the terminal in the Med-Tek Facility when it is not.