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 !

 

[naddel81]

Obviusly u are not banned cuz you dont have NNID, dumb.

you do not have to have a NNID linked to get banned.

 

[IcyFire]

Obviusly u are not banned cuz you dont have NNID, dumb.

There were reports of people getting banned without nnid too.

 

[Bluespheal]

Obviusly u are not banned cuz you dont have NNID, dumb.

There have been reports of being banned without having NNID, dumb.

Ninja'ed... twice...dumb.

 

[Kourin]

Obviusly u are not banned cuz you dont have NNID, dumb.

Wut? I'm banned and don't have a NNID on my console.

 

[lomejor18]

I'm still not banned. Update:

o3DS - 11.4.0-37E
Status: Not Banned
No NNID

History:
Date format: MM/DD/YYYY

04/13/2016 - First Time using OOT Hax + Homebrew
05/30/2016 - Installed Menuhax + EmuNAND (I used this Guide: https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutoria...luding-emunand-coldboot-cia-installer.405589/)
12/19/2016 - Installed A9LH + Luma 6.6 (I used Plailect's 3DS Guide)
Currently - A9LH + Luma 7.0.5-f5aa6393 (dev)

I'm using this 3DS for testing, heavy save editing and rom editing.

My apps:
FBI
freeShop (v 2.2.0)
Homebrew Launcher
NTR CFW SELECTOR
3DSident
JKSM (7/21/2016)
Luma Updater

I often use freeShop and JKSM.

Last played games:
Pokemon Sun: Last savefile is from february and I was online. Clean save, no cheats and no edits.
Pokemon Moon: Never played, only started. (Has no save file)
Fire Emblem Fates (complete) + DLC: I played this game a lot last week, with online mode and with heavy edits (but not against online opponents). This is a patched rom for tests, it bypasses shadowbans.
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (+ only released DLC): Currently playing.

Streetpass:
Active for Fire Emblem Fates and Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

Friend List:
Favourite Title: Pokemon Sun
Settings since 12/19/2016 : Show friends when you're online? [No]
Friends: 0

Spotpass:
Was full active (Automatic Software Downloads + Sending of System Information) until Friday ...

Info:
Some games like Fire Emblem Fates and Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia have "Gameplay-Data Reporting".

It says:
"You may choose to share information about your gameplay with Nintendo in order to help us develop future products and services. Would you like to share your gameplay information with Nintendo?"

In my case, I selected always [No].

My online behavior:
If I don't use online, then it's always deactivated. I don't use sleep mode.
Sometimes I use the normal eShop. Last time was in april.

More information:
I never downloaded a game before release date.
I never downloaded / installed something from that ISO site.
Last time, I used the o3DS browser was for installing A9LH (last use: 12/19/2016).
I never downloaded / installed home menu themes. I use the black standard theme.
I never deleted my activity log since A9LH installation (12/19/2016).

- - - - - - -

I'm wondering if this banwave has something to do with Pokemon (Nintendo + Pokemon = serious business).
There are some serious events ongoing, right? Are Pokemon Sun / Moon games and
save files fully researched yet? Maybe there are some unknown hidden flags / values
which tell Nintendo if a player is cheating or not.

Possible, that Pokemon Bank and Pokémon Global Link can be used, to search
cheaters and illegal modifications in the Pokemon games. I know of some bans
in Pokémon Global Link for illegal Pokedex entries.
So I have some questions @ all Pokemon Sun / Moon gamers:

Have you played the game before the release date and got banned once?
Are you banned by the recent banwave?
Physical or digital version?
When was the last time you played Pokemon Sun / Moon?
Have you used online functions in these games?
Have you ever modified your save file, RAM or / and ROM? Even small things like altering money or Pokedex count.
Have you ever used Pokemon Bank or / and Pokémon Global Link with a modified save / game? Even small modifications count.

same case but USA region...
i can add that i've purchased pokemon bank since its release years ago, also got legends of exidia for possible dsiware in futuro (but never did it), and $7 available... NOT banned....
have you ever bought something on eshop? (games, themes)

 

[Slashkin]

I'm wondering if this banwave has something to do with Pokemon (Nintendo + Pokemon = serious business).
There are some serious events ongoing, right? Are Pokemon Sun / Moon games and
save files fully researched yet? Maybe there are some unknown hidden flags / values
which tell Nintendo if a player is cheating or not.

Possible, that Pokemon Bank and Pokémon Global Link can be used, to search
cheaters and illegal modifications in the Pokemon games. I know of some bans
in Pokémon Global Link for illegal Pokedex entries.
So I have some questions @ all Pokemon Sun / Moon gamers:

Have you played the game before the release date and got banned once?
Are you banned by the recent banwave?
Physical or digital version?
When was the last time you played Pokemon Sun / Moon?
Have you used online functions in these games?
Have you ever modified your save file, RAM or / and ROM? Even small things like altering money or Pokedex count.
Have you ever used Pokemon Bank or / and Pokémon Global Link with a modified save / game? Even small modifications count.

Nop, many ppls who dont even played pokegames got banned.



Have you played the game before the release date and got banned once?
Nope.
Are you banned by the recent banwave?
Nope.
Physical or digital version?
Both.
When was the last time you played Pokemon Sun / Moon?
April'13
Have you used online functions in these games?
Ofc.
Have you ever modified your save file, RAM or / and ROM? Even small things like altering money or Pokedex count.
Maked all possible things, exept online cheating.
Have you ever used Pokemon Bank or / and Pokémon Global Link with a modified save / game? Even small modifications count.
Yep, exept online cheating.

 

[TheWhopper]

There were reports of people getting banned without nnid too.

Same here. No NNID because of my banned o3ds and my n3ds got banned too.

 

[Line]

Correct. It could be completely over (at least for this wave) or they could have just stopped for the weekend (as there is a good chance the banning is at least a semi-manual process). There is no way to know which until Tuesday or Wednesday. Of course, even if it is over it is entirely possible for there to be another banwave later. Hell, they could even have monthly banwaves in the future.

I don't doubt that, sadly...
But okay, I'm gonna wait until tomorrow and see what happens.

 

[RustInPeace]

It COULD be temporary for some, perma for others, but this wouldn't make much sense...
The real question is why? Why temp and some perma?

For me I got this console banned before so I figured it to be a second offense punishment, but they never brought up the previous time, and I read others getting permabanned and it's their first offense.

I have a question about sleep mode. Really? I put my consoles in sleep mode a lot, it shaves time in getting to gen requests, without having to leave the console open and have it plugged into the charger. I'm thinking about efficiency and battery life at the same time. At the time of banning, my main console was plugged in for a while, charging and awaiting any genning requests. Since then I've done the sleep mode thing more, thinking that since it cuts off internet, that no data would be send, and I have Spotpass disabled anyways.

 

[tommikinder]

Should also note that (some?) VC has an option to send info to Nintendo

Is this true? I've never seen this option in any VC games I've played

 

[Rei7]

Lol funny stuff. I have NNID linked and i'm not banned. It's not the cause of the issue.. it's something else tbh.

 

[Freya]

same case but USA region...
i can add that i've purchased pokemon bank since its release years ago, also got legends of exidia for possible dsiware in futuro (but never did it), and $7 available... NOT banned....
have you ever bought something on eshop? (games, themes)

Yes, a game (Hyrule Warriors Legends). That was last year.
Most of my other games are physical.

 

[YugamiSekai]

Is this true? I've never seen this option in any VC games I've played

It's under Pixel-perfect mode for SNES games and I think other VC too

 

[lomejor18]

Yes, a game (Hyrule Warriors Legends). That was last year.
Most of my other games are physical.

perhaps there's a "buyer flag" or something? if you never purchased anything, there's no way that you have so many games...
is there reports of banned 3ds that bought games??? or NOT banned that never bought anything?

 

[IdontspeakeEnglish]

Yes, a game (Hyrule Warriors Legends). That was last year.
Most of my other games are physical.

I never bought anything in eshop. Download demo version of Pokemon SM, played and deleted. Bana is not. I do not play online often, but after a wave of bans every day.

 

[jockep]

perhaps there's a "buyer flag" or something? if you never purchased anything, there's no way that you have so many games...
is there reports of banned 3ds that bought games??? or NOT banned that never bought anything?

I'm not banned and i've never bought a single game lol.

 

[tommikinder]

It's under Pixel-perfect mode for SNES games and I think other VC too

Oh yes, I remember it now in the SNES settings. Luckily I disabled that when it first asked me

 

[Rei7]

4th day still no ban for me. Safe to say there hasn't been any new banning I guess. Gotta wait for the next wave.. see if I get hit as well.
I'm turning on spotpass on, and leaving it on sleep mode when i'm not playing. I'm just doing regular stuff like I always have before the ban wave, just gonna see if it get the hammer.

Regarding eShop purchases, there has been reports of people getting banned even when they bought games. Discussed about it yesterday.
For my case, I have quite a bunch of purchases, cuz I don't pirate games besides using NTR CFW for streaming reasons.

 

[Dark Pulse]

Read the write-up -__-

Yes, I read that, and I've got some of those CIAs installed, AND I'M NOT BANNED.

Freeshop, FBI, HBL, Luma Updater - those are all installed. I did not get banned, I've had it sharing info to Nintendo.

IT IS NOT CIAs.

Do we all got that now? Are we all on the same page finally?

 

[Gerhard]

Bought my N3DS three weeks back, feel real bummed out I got banned. For the record I never played pokemon or FE:latest edition at all but I did use freeshop a shitload (including unlocking all Mii plaza games), edited my ACNL character at some point (then played online) and also used some editor to change my Miis since I wanted to recover the original look of my main one and the inbuilt QR transfer wasn't letting me do it. Edit: Oh I also used Homepass.

What would be the best way to get a new private seed? Can I just buy any old 3ds? Does it have to be the same model as my current one? I guess there's really no point in unbanning until we know more or Monhun XX comes out in NA but I'd like to know my options.