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 !

 

[ShadowEO]

What ur guys opinion ? Will the ban be sorted out and our works continue?? What ya think

It's still far to early to tell. Have patience.

 

[Monty Kensicle]

Not sure the ban blocks Shuffle since it's connected to the eshop.

Went online with Ruby and Moon today. But I also haven't used any homebrew apps either since this all started.

 

[JManUtd]

All bans are managed by Nintendo servers. Period.

You can't unban yourself, the only thing you can do is copy an identifier (LocalFriendCodeSeed_B) from an unbanned console.

But don't try that, yet...

 

[t54mod1]

we aren't gloating we are trying to be helpful by giving our situation information. it might be useful in figuring out why we aren't banned. don't be so butthurt.

Lol sorry talking about people that are saying other things no you

 

[petethepug]

All bans are managed by Nintendo servers. Period.

You can't unban yourself, the only thing you can do is copy an identifier (LocalFriendCodeSeed_B) from an unbanned console.

*Assuming bans are done like Sun & Moon, which have the same ban code as this one.* How is this one different?

I feel like this is just being an overhyped thing that everyone should have to worry about, when it shouldn't be.

 

[t54mod1]

*Assuming bans are done like Sun & Moon, which have the same ban code as this one.* How is this one different?

I feel like this is just being an overhyped thing that everyone should have to worry about, when it shouldn't be.

I think it's the code of a network violation I got it from pokemon

 

[ShadowEO]

Lol sorry talking about people that are saying other things no you

Having people who aren't banned report in can create a sort of control group. That's why users who aren't banned, myself including, are in here. We're trying to assist in figuring out the cause, either by looking for similarities, or by adding to the already large list of possibilities.

@petethepug: Do remember though, the Pokemon bans were completely justified, those users logged into Nintendo's services for that game before it's release. Also do remember that many users received a combination of two ban codes, the 0102 that we're receiving now, and the 2802, which has yet to be seen from this banwave.

 

[Astoria]

*Assuming bans are done like Sun & Moon, which have the same ban code as this one.* How is this one different?

I feel like this is just being an overhyped thing that everyone should have to worry about, when it shouldn't be.

It's been the same as always. You don't seem to understand how 3DS bans work, like at all. I suggest reading more threads about the topic here in GBATemp.

 

[toberkel]

I know that, something doesn't seem right though. They are hosted on Nintendos servers but I don't think console bans can.

Still, can anyone confirm if unbanning works?

Yep, I can, used the first online seed since I knew that everybody would destroy it this or that way. Just wanted to know if it works, and yes, it does. Got banned 10 minutes later on that seed lol.

 

[drsalvador555]

Good god over another 100 pages, have we found anything new out like the cause or how to prevent it?
Edit: Just checked now, and still not banned. Play Moon online with Luma+A9LH

 

[demounit]

I'm still not convinced that this isn't just another Pokemon ban.

I've seen some mixed reports, but is there anyone here who was banned who hasn't played Pokemon online? and is there anyone here who was banned who *didn't* have hacked Pokemon?

I've never used hacked Pokemon and I'm not banned yet I've been going online and using freeshop and all that. maybe Pokemon has something to do with this.

 

[petethepug]

Good god over another 100 pages, have we found anything new out like the cause or how to prevent it?

Nope, just more hoopla lol.

 

[t54mod1]

Having people who aren't banned report in can create a sort of control group. That's why users who aren't banned, myself including, are in here. We're trying to assist in figuring out the cause, either by looking for similarities, or by adding to the already large list of possibilities.

I didn't mean you guys the was a user that came in and he was pretty dick I am happy you guys are here sorry if I offended anyone it's just that one guy.

 

[LunarD3ATH]

*Assuming bans are done like Sun & Moon, which have the same ban code as this one.* How is this one different?

I feel like this is just being an overhyped thing that everyone should have to worry about, when it shouldn't be.

I mean, a banwave is no small thing. Especially when it seems to be targeting the hacking community explicitly. I've still yet to see any proof that non-hacked systems have been banned.

 

[Awakened_Xander]

I guess I should say something about this.

There's two main factors as to why this banwave happened.

1) We wanted to play as 3DS gods by creating SigHax/boot9strap, and once it was released for the public to use, Nintendo decided to do 3DS CFW Apocalypse on all of us. Maybe the banwave wouldn't had happened if we didn't try to break in the one security that would change the 3DS hacking scene, but it's too late to stop that now.

2) Recent bans on Pokemon S&M cheaters who were participating in the World Tournament. Nintendo realized how serious cheating & how it impacts actual tournaments that they decided to ban anyone who has used CFW or any sort of "unauthorized content". Really harsh decision for them to do, but look at what they did with Swapnote when the whole "questionable content" was becoming a thing. They're known by taking out the source rather than the small minority who's causing it.

Now...as to HOW they found out who's using CFW is beyond me, but it may have to do with Spotpass being activated & going on their online servers.

But...people are speculating that we could have a traitor within the 3DS hacking community, so that may have something to do with it also. Not to mention how I don't see any known devs mentioning about this whole banwave incident, in the time of posting this. Seems kind of suspicious to me, but I may just be overthinking about it.

As of right now, nobody knows how Nintendo managed to hit this many CFW users in a few days or if this banwave will eventually cease.

Considering that, I assume, we took all the precautions on what we shouldn't do with CFW installed but got banned recently, we should find out "the why" first instead of "the what or how".

If Nintendo did have all the info they needed from us when we had CFW installed in the past, then why didn't they hit them when it was already in their systems? It would had been the tactical choice to do, since everyone wouldn't know how they're getting banned when they took every precaution.

To hit so many CFW users with the banwave now, something must have triggered Nintendo to set off the ban hammer.

Like I said, either reason #1 or #2 are the cause, or we have a traitor within the community. Any other speculation is up for guessing. I'm just sticking to those three possible reasons as of right now.

 

[Slartibartfast42]

What is wrong with Nintendo? Don't they know pissing off their customers like this is going to cause them to lose business? People with a banned 3DS are less likely to buy a Switch.

 

[t54mod1]

These forms are probably the make or break of cfw advancement in the banwaves thanks for doing your best everyone!

 

[ShadowEO]

I guess I should say something about this.

There's two main factors as to why this banwave happened.

1) We wanted to play as 3DS gods by creating SigHax/boot9strap, and once it was released for the public to use, Nintendo decided to do 3DS CFW Apocalypse on all of us. Maybe the banwave wouldn't had happened if we didn't try to break in the one security that would change the 3DS hacking scene, but it's too late to stop that now.

2) Recent bans on Pokemon S&M cheaters who were participating in the World Tournament. Nintendo realized how serious cheating & how it impacts actual tournaments that they decided to ban anyone who has used CFW or any sort of "unauthorized content". Really harsh decision for them to do, but look at what they did with Swapnote when the whole "questionable content" was becoming a thing. They're known by taking out the source rather than the small minority who's causing it.

Now...as to HOW they found out who's using CFW is beyond me, but it may have to do with Spotpass being activated & going on their online servers.

But...people are speculating that we could have a traitor within the 3DS hacking community, so that may have something to do with it also. Not to mention how I don't see any known devs mentioning about this whole banwave incident, in the time of posting this. Seems kind of suspicious to me, but I may just be overthinking about it.

As of right now, nobody knows how Nintendo managed to hit this many CFW users in a few days or if this banwave will eventually cease.

Considering that, I assume, we took all the precautions on what we shouldn't do with CFW installed but got banned recently, we should find out the why first instead of the what or how.

If Nintendo did have all the info they needed from us when we had CFW installed in the past, then why didn't they hit them when it was already in their systems? It would had been the tactical choice to do, since everyone wouldn't know how they're getting banned when they took every precaution.

To hit so many CFW users with the banwave now, something must have triggered Nintendo to set off the ban hammer.

Like I said, either reason #1 or #2 are the cause, or we have a traitor within the community. Any other speculation is up for guessing. I'm just sticking to those three possible reasons as of right now.

A "traitor" in the community is going a little far, it's not the time to start a witch hunt and split the community here. We should be acting as a community to figure out what caused this wave and what we can do to avoid another. Nothing has been confirmed yet, and it is WAY too early to begin pointing fingers around.

 

[drsalvador555]

Are people getting banned on specific firmwares? Be they OFW or CFW versions? My Luma isn't as updated as it should be at only 7.0 - 7bbff7d and I'm on 11.4 SysNand

 

[ShadowEO]

Are people getting banned on specific firmwares? Be they OFW or CFW versions? My Luma isn't as updated as it should be at only 7.0 - 7bbff7d

No, people are being banned regardless of firmware version. We've had reports in this thread about 11.2, 11.0 and I'm sure there are others way back in the 100s.