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 !

 

[Aaronius_Leonius]

Would it be more simpler to find the Nintendo server iP addresses and block them from the router? We would just need to use a hacked 3ds on a network and monitor incoming and outgoing traffic until we find the IP address that the 3ds potentially sent the data to Nintendo to ban the system.

I'm pretty sure Nintendo has multiple servers for multiple locations. If it can't connect to one, it will find another one to connect to.

 

[MollyChan]

I think I'll check if my 3DS gets banned this Sunday, as that is when I am next going to see that friend who put CFW on to my 3DS
And if I am still not banned, I think there may be hope that I could evade the ban still if whatever data was sent to Nintendo is updated and reflects not having CFW or other modifications
I really wish there was some way I could get Nintendo to know I would be totally willing to reverse any and all unofficial modifications I have done if it means I don't get banned

Or, I dunno
I'm conflicted on whether to remove CFW as soon as possible to HOPEFULLY avoid the ban, or to just keep on doing CFW stuff with wireless and spotpass data sending off until more information is found

 

[Funkymon]

would also make it just the same as turning off your wifi

Not quite, you could still use FTP locally.

 

[Sketchy1]

Not quite, you could still use FTP locally.

sorry was quoting someone else, just the other guy got in between

 

[Olmectron]

I think I'll check if my 3DS gets banned this Sunday, as that is when I am next going to see that friend who put CFW on to my 3DS
And if I am still not banned, I think there may be hope that I could evade the ban still if whatever data was sent to Nintendo is updated and reflects not having CFW or other modifications
I really wish there was some way I could get Nintendo to know I would be totally willing to reverse any and all unofficial modifications I have done if it means I don't get banned

Or, I dunno
I'm conflicted on whether to remove CFW as soon as possible to HOPEFULLY avoid the ban, or to just keep on doing CFW stuff with wireless and spotpass data sending off until more information is found

Stay with CFW.

3DS' online servers are probably dying in 2 or so years, anyway.

 

[nl255]

True, but when I say CFW, I mean going through the guide and having installed FBI, sorry.
Although I think there was someone claiming to be banned without CFW at all.

FBI counts as an "illegitimate title" (or at least a non-injected FBI does). So still nothing to contradict my theory (which is actually Aurora Wright's).

 

[Shirokami~]

But it's not only 11.4 users, right?

 

[SkyDX]

But it's not only 11.4 users, right?

No, there were reports from 11.3 and below aswell

 

[nitroBW]

Maybe Nintendo can spot Software out of region, like MHXX or FE: Echoes, but it would be strange then. Since I played both and I'm not banned so far ._.

We don't know

FBI counts as an "illegitimate title" (or at least a non-injected FBI does). So still nothing to contradict my theory (which is actually Aurora Wright's).

I know, I said he was correct, but "having CFW" includes having installed FBI and thus an illegitimate title imo, which is why I didn't add that

 

[Rune]

I'm on 11.2 and accessing the friends list tells me to update the firmware. Is that not banned then?

 

[Sketchy1]

I'm on 11.2 and accessing the friends list tells me to update the firmware. Is that not banned then?

no, its just telling you you cant access until you update. for the moment, no your not banned tho if you can still play a game online

 

[nl255]

would also make it just the same as turning off your wifi

Not true, you would still be able to use ftp as well as use amiibos. Remember, disabling wifi also disables NFC (though you could delete your connection settings and/or specify an invalid DNS server).

but blocking such servers would mean you are unable to play online, which is why this ban actually has any matter

At least until a stealth patch/hack is made, assuming the "illegitimate" title id theory is correct (and yes, having FBI installed counts as "illegitimate"). Note that said information apparently may still be sent even if spotpass/friend sharing is off.

 

[nitroBW]

I'm on 11.2 and accessing the friends list tells me to update the firmware. Is that not banned then?

I don't think that this confirms a ban or not, you should try playing online in a game if you want to be sure

 

[Sketchy1]

im kind of suspecting a temp ban tho, because eshop is still accessable.

plus for the larger ban waves, like the sumo leak, nintendo made a statement on it

 

[MollyChan]

Stay with CFW.

3DS' online servers are probably dying in 2 or so years, anyway.

I suppose, considering every OTHER time Nintendo said "we'll keep supporting the old console" in the past (with the NES and the GBA), they ended up ceasing said support after a few years
Though DS and Wii services were ended because they were using an old online connection system. The one used for 3DS and Wii U seems to also be used for Switch, so Nintendo doesn't have any real reason to shut it down. I'm not sure how it works exactly, though, so I could be completely wrong

Was it actually said on whether this ban affects Miiverse? Aside from a potential release of a new Pokemon game, that's the only other thing I would use online for these days...

 

[nl255]

I know, I said he was correct, but "having CFW" includes having installed FBI and thus an illegitimate title imo, which is why I didn't add that

She was correct

 

[puss2puss]

When you load a game on the eshop servers, through USBhelper or jnus, theres an extra code in the game that nintendew uses to detect them once online.
Do whatever you want we that.

 

[AshleyCummings]

man still no word o.O nobody has a idea? I have one O2DS and one O3ds xl ill reinsert everything I use and last used..
both use the same custom theme made on my pc..
Both are U.S consoles
one has been banned before but ended up being a temp ban and was lifted I forgot the amount of days : 3DS XL
2DS has Never been banned
Both are old models, both use bootstrap 9 and Luma 7.1

the one banned (3DS XL) uses heavy mods for Animal crossing New Leaf NTR plugins. I use a save editor for tomodatchi. I used freeshop for Swapnote DLC, and Cooking Mama sweet shop,
My 3DS apps are : save editor, cthulu, fbi, big blue menu, luma updater, ntr, chmm, multi download, newquay, playcoin editor, ...
spotpass and sharing was off.
last game used before banned : animal crossing new leaf

The 2ds has Japanese games and japanese translated games, I also have converted GBA cia's on it, my 2DS does not use freehop, also my 2ds had both spotpass and sharing was on.
As of last night i used cthulu to wipe play and library history I was still not banned turned off the wifi,
so i have one good seed to work with if need be ..

My 2ds apps are :
fbi, chmm, badge cia, homebrew, cthulu, luma updater,
last game used : R4i 3ds sdhc .. not banned

really hope we can figure it out I do got a good seed so I can use that but will wait a week or so ..

 

[Sketchy1]

FBI counts as an "illegitimate title" (or at least a non-injected FBI does).

if injected to a stock sysnand, i could see it at being illegitimate because i couldnt boot it when i injected into health and safety (would crash immediatley)
had to boot to rx-sys (it was back in the rxtools days)

 

[nl255]

if injected to a stock sysnand, i could see it at being illegitimate because i couldnt boot it when i injected into health and safety (would crash immediatley)
had to boot to rx-sys (it was back in the rxtools days)

Most likely it is the title id that matters so it might not affect an injected FBI but almost everyone with cfw has a non-injected FBI even if they don't have anything else yet.