It appears that users are being banned from 3DS online services, en masse. There's no direct cause right now, and seemingly no linking factor. This post is meant as an announcement for users, to be wary, and that GBAtemp will keep you updated as soon as more info rolls in. If you have been banned, please post in the thread below, and we will try to keep tabs on the situation. To be extra sure, it can't hurt to turn off your 3DS's wireless capabilities, so you might as well do that for now.

Edit 1: it appears that e-Shop access isn't restricted if you are banned.

Edit 2: A caller to Nintendo reported that the company said this ban is due to "unauthorized software usage".

Edit 3: @LinkSoraZelda is collecting info. Contact him if you are banned.

Edit 4: Click and fill this out if you were BANNED.

Edit 5:

[11:28:19 PM] Clector: Curiously the page of that error in Nintendo Support website used to have this:Error Code: 002-0102 Situation: You receive the error code 002-0102 when attempting to connect online. What to Do: If you continue to experience this issue, please contact Nintendo by calling 1-800-255-3700. Representatives are available from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., Pacific Time, 7 days a week.
[11:28:44 PM] Clector: Now it says this: What to Do: If you are experiencing this error code, your Nintendo 3DS family system has been banned due to unauthorized system modifications, play of unauthorized versions of one or more games, and/or connecting to the official game servers in violation of our terms of service. This ban is effective immediately and requests to remove the ban will not be processed.

Thanks to @Joom

Edit 6: Aurora Wright is taking another poll here

Edit 7: Not a lot is known but

There are bans happening, they are happening in all regions.
All models in the 3ds family seem to be candidates for banning.
There is no indication they will be anything other than permanent.
A game or DLC may end up being a cause but there is no one game or DLC that ties banned users together.
The cause or causes are as yet unknown, though it does seem to be related to modifications. Reports of unmodified consoles being banned are as yet unproven.
The banning is tied to something you can modify, thus you can unban. Doing it while the causes are unknown is likely only going to burn a working token though.
There are semi public tokens out there, Nintendo knows how to browse a forum as well as you so don't be surprised if they also get banned.
It does not seem to be limited to a given base firmware version, it does not seem to be limited to any one custom firmware type. There is some speculation that older hacking methods are not being hit as hard but nothing to confirm this yet.
The data collection could have happened this morning, or it could have been months in the making.
A simple check to see is checking your friends list, by itself it will not ban you.
Some are turning their wifi off. It is doubtful this will be of much use and being banned does not seem to come with any downsides that wifi being off will not also mimic.
You may have escaped a ban thus far but it could happen at any point. It could be that they stop in the future, it has happened on other consoles, but you would be living in hope rather than any particularly well founded logic.
The bans are done on the side of Nintendo's servers rather than your 3ds so there is also that.

If you hack your devices/games then their online functionality may be troubled. This has been known for decades, Nintendo seems to have finally caught up with that.

Please continue to share information with the thread or the links in previous edits.

Update 5/30

HOW TO HELP AVOID BANS (we think)​

If I was to guess from the information we have gathered since the ban wave, it seems likely that they are looking for TitleIDs that don't exist. Homebrew shows up in the activity log as the Download Play app, and fake CIA's show up as just ??????. That last one is what I'm guessing they are looking for.

If you are not banned yet or before you unban yourself, go into your friends list, choose settings, and turn off the option to "show friends what game you are playing." This will prevent you from playing games online with friends, so turn it back on when you wanna game with someone, but ALWAYS keep it off when running custom CIAs. Next, go into system settings -> internet settings -> spotpass, and turn off BOTH options. One is auto download software, the other sends system information to Nintendo. Also, make sure you don't have your favorite title set to something stupid like FBI or any other non-Nintendo CIA.

Its VERY likely that these options are what tipped off Nintendo, but we aren't 100% certain yet. The amount of banned people that had one of these options turned on was over 80% for each. If I was to assume that some of those people overlap, its very possible (but not confirmed) that 100% of banned people in the survey had at least one of those options turned on. I personally had all of them off and I have TONS of reasons for Nintendo to ban me.... yet I am not banned (yet).

Another bit of advice: Only run custom CIAs when offline, and after you close them, run a "legit" game like Smash Bros. or something before shutting down or going back online. This way your most recent title won't show up as a fake CIA

Current Theories as to what causes a ban
​

* SpotPass Settings: 8 users out of 46 users that were banned have SpotPass completely shut off, or SpotPass only (no friends list visibility)
* Firmware Version (Luma, Nintendo): Literally all reports ranged from 10.2+, I can get exact numbers for this if you'd like, but all firmwares were affected.
* Firmware Type (A9LH, B9S): 44 of the 126 B9S users that answered were banned, pattern was mirrored for A9LH users as well.
* Homebrew Titles such as FBI, HBL, Luma Updater, Themely, and freeShop: Literally about 98% of users both banned and unbanned had some combination of these applications installed. However the common ones were: FBI, HBL, LumaUpdater and NTR.
* Save Modification: Equal amounts of users on both sides have reported save modification in some form, either with PKSM or another save editor
* System Transfers: 188 users said that they had not previously system transfered, 61 of those users were banned; 16 users said they transferred from a hacked console, only three of them received a ban; 13 said they transferred from a stock system and likewise were banned. The rest of our sample did not answer this question.
* Activity Log Information: A majority of those who have not been banned have said they had NOT cleaned their activity logs. I can get exact numbers for this too on request.

This information is just what I've found. Like I said, there could be variables or things we haven't even checked for yet. But these are things that I feel should be disproven, at least with the current dataset we have.

• From the information that we've gathered from some people that have used a packet sniffer such as WireShark, the following data is sent to Nintendo's online gaming servers as soon as the 3DS connects to the internet:
  • Amount of time spent online (timer stops when either the system is disconnected from the internet, or connection drops out, then starts the timer again in a new session when it reconnects to the internet).
  • The game being played and amount of time spent on it during that session.
  • The console's unique hexadecimal ID used in the LocalFriendCodeSeedB, along with it's RSA-signed signature.
  • The console's serial number in which is broadcasted from the SoC and is hard coded in the SoC.
  • Friend Code generated on the Nintendo 3DS system, if one has been generated.
  • Internet connection status (either online or offline).
  • The Nintendo Network ID, if there is one linked to it.
  • Even if the sending of SpotPass Information is switched off, or even hiding your currently playing games. It does not prevent the system from sending currently playing information to Nintendo's online gaming servers, it only hides it from your friends in your friend list (like being invisible on the forum, while mods and admins can still see you). Why? Because even people without a Friend Code on their system have been getting banned too!

• The following data is NOT sent to Nintendo's online gaming servers:
  • The data from the Nintendo 3DS's Activity Log. Oddly enough, while Nintendo does explicitly state that they collect Activity Log data, they're actually referring to their own server's Activity Log, which always tracks every console's online activity, and keeps a record of them that is stored forever. And is only collected in increments of data through a timer and a currently playing list.
    
  • Games or apps that have not been played, regardless if they're legitimate or not. You only get tracked when you're online and using that game or app.
  • Using games or apps while offline. Even though it is stored on the 3DS console's Activity Log, that data is NOT sent to Nintendo's online gaming servers.
  • Custom Firmware. Though we can't rule out the possibility of them releasing a 3DS update in the future that adds such function to collect MD5 hashes of files and FIRM data and send them to Nintendo online gaming servers (which would also be updated in a maintenance).

• Things that people think what happens with consoles, but really doesn't:
  • "LocalFriendCodeSeedB is transferred to the system upon doing a system transfer". This is false, the LocalFriendCodeSeedB remains on the system and does not move to another system.
  • "The console generates a LocalFriendCodeSeedB upon first startup". Again, this is false, the LocalFriendCodeSeedB is made during the manufacturing process at Foxconn. It is generated at the factory, flashed to the NAND flash memory storage, then created as an account on Nintendo's online gaming server and Nintendo eShop server immediately when being manufactured. It is absolutely impossible to generate a LocalFriendCodeSeedB and be able to connect to Nintendo's online gaming server and/or Nintendo eShop server, even if you knew the RSA generation key for it. You'd end up with Error Code 002-0102 "This console's online services have been restricted by Nintendo" if you even tried (the error can either mean two things: The hexadecimal ID doesn't exist on the server, or the request to access the hexadecimal ID has been denied which in other words... banned). So a LocalFriendCodeSeedB generator will NEVER happen! Because it's not worth doing, if it can't connect.
  • Switching off "Currently Playing" information. Once again, this does not hide your online activity from Nintendo's online gaming server, it only hides it from your friends.
  • Switching off SpotPass. Nope, this too doesn't hide your online activity from Nintendo's online gaming server, it only opts-out of receiving SpotPass data, sorry.

So pretty much the bottom line is, if anyone has been using custom apps and/or titles not installed through Nintendo eShop while online in the past, guess what? You're screwed! And it is only a matter of time before your console's unique hexadecimal ID in the LocalFriendCodeSeedB is banned from Nintendo's online gaming server. This will mean, your console can't access the Friend List or play any online functions in games.

If you have been online while using custom apps and/or titles not installed through Nintendo eShop and haven't been banned yet, that's because Nintendo hasn't caught up to you yet. They're still going through each unique hexadecimal ID's Activity Log on their server, and by Activity Log, I mean the Activity Log on their server, not the 3DS console's activity log. And it will be only a matter of time before you're banned too.

Thanks to @Platinum Lucario @MadMageKefka and @ShadowEO !

 

[Deleted User]

Its funny because I haven't used online services or had sharing information on

Ah really? Were you just on Luma A9LH?

 

[TinchoX]

Its funny because I haven't used online services or had sharing information on

Well you are not the only one who's hasn't been online for a while and still got banned, who knows, you probably did something very nasty and naughty with your console and that alone is the sole reason of your ban.

 

[EmulatorLover]

Ah really? Were you just on Luma A9LH?

yah m8 I dont play online much I haven't played since like april

 

[nitroBW]

Just to be sure, how do I turn off spotpass? Don't know if it's a smart decision though, if opening something spotpass related to disable it might get me banned in the first place.

Go to settings > internet settings > spotpass

but turning it off now is a bit suspicious lol

 

[Veranek]

Welp, I've come to terms that I'm not gonna get my Poke Bank living dex back. Most online features I used were for the global missions, and trading a pokemon here and there with a friend that lives near me. Had no friends added too, so can't say I'm gonna miss that. I'll just wait the 30 days and see if the situation reverts (unlikely) but I can't say I'll sorely miss being able to use online. It'll just make me all the more decided on installing games from freeshop and playing to my heart's content, I never did anything bad except getting CFW and gen-ing pokemons for friends (which don't really play online either, it was mostly for bragging rights), so, if that's a bannable offense... So be it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Not sure if you have been replied to yet, but I have good news (sorta.)

You are able to get back your Pokémon in Poke Bank, eventually. This is not a 022 hyperban like the previous one, so your NNID can access the eShop. We have been able to fix 002 for a while now, so can System Transfer or install a clean localfriendcodeseed_b to your system, go online in the Poke Bank, move them over to a game file, and then start using PKSM.

Your Pokemon are not lost.

 

[skapista]

Sorry if this is a newbie question but, since I'm not going to be using my banned O3DS XL online anymore (and to avoid potentially getting my NNID banned altogether with attempting an unbanning); is there a way to have the system NNID-less (I don't mind formatting, and also WITHOUT outright deleting my current NNID) and restoring games via CIA? (Currently have 11.4 // LUMA & BS9) or is an NNID required for system use? (Its been A WHILE)

http://en-americas-support.nintendo...id/2224/~/how-to-delete-a-nintendo-network-id

 

[Deleted User]

Yeaaaa, watching, but this thread has only been getting the same questions and suspicions the past few pages and no one actually reads through the whole 124 pages in order to understand what's going on, which is why I'm happy to follow this thread since page 1

I don't really expect people to read 124 pages of this stuff. If there is any new info, a new thread should be created or OP should update

 

[EmulatorLover]

so because I'm getting a little anxious is there a way to unban?

 

[nitroBW]

I don't really expect people to read 124 pages of this stuff. If there is any new info, a new thread should be created or OP should update

While you are 100% right, I think that 90% of the users/ people watching this didn't even read the original post.

 

[Olmectron]

Its funny because I haven't used online services or had sharing information on

Did you have the "Share last played title" option enabled?

 

[blackbubble]

i'm banned - cfw a9lh luma. never used nintendo-internet services yet, till now, to check if i am banned, and i am lol.

i have installed: fbi, homebrew launcher, ntr cfw selector, freeshop, themely... some moded undub versions of games and mostly vc games. never played online or used any hacks online neither used mii plaza thing.

but i had the whole time enabled "spotpass" feature for some reason i didnt know it exist...

 

[Skylinedeadline]

Yeaaaa, watching, but this thread has only been getting the same questions and suspicions the past few pages and no one actually reads through the whole 124 pages in order to understand what's going on, which is why I'm happy to follow this thread since page 1

I was here until like page 14 then all of a sudden this morning it was at like 70-80 I'm not sure what we're supposed to be discussing now. We know realistically it's probably a number of various factors that got us flagged for ban and potentially has been getting recorded for months or weeks or however long the latest update's been available.

 

[nitroBW]

so because I'm getting a little anxious is there a way to unban?

yes:

this:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/regarding-the-recent-3ds-banwave.471781/page-37#post-7335106
or this in general:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/all-3-methods-to-get-unbanned-from-recent-ban-wave.450679/

 

[aqours_muse]

The solution is to wait for the bans to stop rolling out, acquire a localfriendcodeseed_b file from an unbanned 3ds, and inject that shit into your banned 3ds.

There is a forum thread that offers a public LFCS file but that was due to the generous donation of one user who had four of them. The last one has yet to be released but thirsty fools already asking for it. Best bet is to get your own LFCS.

Might sound evil, but teeeeeechnically you could buy a 2DS ($80), hack it real quick, take it's LFCS, wipe that shit via nand reinstallation, and then return it...but that's frowned upon.

How does one take a LFCS? I have an o3ds that I don't use anymore and would like to see if it works.

 

[EmulatorLover]

yes:

k good I'm not gonna do it now so nintendo dont get suspicious

 

[nitroBW]

snip

But I guess you connected to the internet atleast once, which could've made them add you to their blacklist :/

 

[Lewdcina]

Great

 

[TinchoX]

now that I remember, if this matters at all, I THINK I transferred my NNID from my o3ds to my N3ds... annddd I think that in itself was a big mistake...
Ironically my 03ds has another nnid I created just for it to have one and be able to use my two 3ds'

 

[8BitWonder]

Did you have the "Share last played title" option enabled?

Where's this option located? If you don't mind me asking.

 

[Skylinedeadline]

k good I'm not gonna do it now so nintendo dont get suspicious

If you do it and get re banned not even like a full 48 hours later please report back here. I'm curios as to whether they've got us recorded console id/whatever else wise or have some automated system now to detect and will be banning in waves consistently from now on or not.