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 !

 

[A Plus Ric]

I'm not saying the ban isn't deserved. I'm quoting the ToS in regards to the fact that even if you didn't break ToS they can ban your ass anyway. So if they "think" you might break it, played a weird game, they didn't like your face.... They can ban you.

That's is to protect their right to ban you for breaking the rules without having to tell you which one you broke. That's all. It's to prevent a lawsuit from a hacker getting banned for something they know is a toss violation, but don't care to dig into it to detail the reason and not get sued

 

[Majickhat55]

Point I was making is that, the company (many) reserve the right to relinquish their service at any time, whether you broke ToS or not. It's not solely reserved for those that do break it.

 

[Seelenamt]

My N3DSXL has currently not been banned- going to leave the information here in case anyone finds it useful

Spoiler

Have played FEE:SoV, last on the 19th.

Installed B9S and Luma on the 20th; prior to that I had been on 11.3 with only soundhax on this 3DS, but I had been using ctr-httpwn for online in FE:fates

Went online on the 21st at some point in Pokemon Moon to get the mega stones from mystery gift; then I went online to claim the festival points for the global mission that ended earlier this month.

I had title status thing in the friends list on; which I have now disabled. Spotpass info sharing was already off.

No custom themes or badges installed, though I do have themely. Don't have any pirated CIAs or homebrewed games. I've not done any save editing or cheating in any games either.

I've not done much with CFW yet except test out kitkat and BootNTR selector, use GM9 to dump a few carts and NAND, and JKSM to backup a handful of saves.

I briefly went online just to check if I had been banned (checked friends list and PGL in Pokemon Moon) although I only did so after disabling title sharing and checking spotpass info sharing.

EDIT: Also, never used Freeshop

 

[AxlSt00pid]

Point I was making is that, the company (many) reserve the right to relinquish their service at any time, whether you broke ToS or not. It's not solely reserved for those that do break it.

So you're meaning if I create my own company I can ban anyone because I don't like them?

 

[Xiphiidae]

I have an EUR console (Since I'm from Spain) and I got banned even though I rarely went online (because my ISP sux) and I didn't cheat

I'm sorry to hear that. It seems very strange that some people who use FreeShop regularly and go online often didn't get banned whereas some people who don't use FreeShop and rarely went online got banned.

 

[Majickhat55]

That's is to protect their right to ban you for breaking the rules without having to tell you which one you broke. That's all. It's to prevent a lawsuit from a hacker getting banned for something they know is a toss violation, but don't care to dig into it to detail the reason and not get sued

Obviously you're not grasping what I'm trying to say Lol..... I know why the ToS exists, I know how it works. I also know that it doesn't protect legit consumers". That's what I'm talking about.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

So you're meaning if I create my own company I can ban anyone because I don't like them?

If it's in your ToS like Nintendo's, and they hit "agree" then yes.

 

[Slattz]

btw (idk if this has been said or not as I haven't read the whole thread) but because I was using the same LFCS as about 1000 other people (because of the SuMo ban) and if one person got it banned, we all got banned lol
So I got banned in EUR but it might be because of someone in the USA that nintendo banned but as a byproduct, all of us using the public LFCS got banned too.

So maybe a 'have you used the public lfcs' question should be added to the form or something.

 

[AxlSt00pid]

I'm sorry to hear that. It seems very strange that some people who use FreeShop regularly and go online often didn't get banned whereas some people who don't use FreeShop and rarely went online got banned.

Nah don't worry, I do have b9s installed so maybe that's the reason why
But I have some friends that I can only play online with and that bothers me a lot because I won't be able to play with them (and my horrendous LAG)

 

[Greymane]

EUR console here to with a ban, only difference from before the ban is use of freeshop, ban is only for nintendo games/services, atlus and such still have internet usage.

Edit: forgot to mention menuhax CFW luma3ds 11.4

 

[Earth97]

Have there been people banned while using A9LH?

 

[Onepunchbruh]

Does this ban also occurs with gateway patched games? Like if I play pokemon game online using my other game header. Will I be safe doing that or not?

 

[Damon_girl]

N3DS on 11.4 here with B9S installed. I use Freeshop and cheats for some of the games I have. Not banned.

 

[A Plus Ric]

Name 1 time you have ever seen proven that someone was banned for no reason. It doesn't happen. It is their online service, their rules. You choose to use it. Follow their rules, also understand it's a privilege not a right to use. Hence it is theirs. I dunno why you want to use this as a reason to bash them. If they ever banned someone for no reason that's fine, but anyone I have ever seen banned, had cfw, or played a pirated game early and tried to go online, or cheated, or used something to modify the game. Get off the Hate on them saving their ass in their to prevent thesethings from happening to their product.

 

[AxlSt00pid]

If it's in your ToS like Nintendo's, and they hit "agree" then yes.

Ok then, brb making my own ToS with the line "We will ban you for no reason if we're on a bad mood that day and we feel like it"

 

[Majickhat55]

Question anyone get banned that didn't have an NNID linked? Perhaps Nintendo did what they could have done long ago and checked your installed tickets against your purchase history. If there were mismatches = BAN. They could have done this a million years ago to ban anyone using CFW.

 

[RustInPeace]

Does this ban also occurs with gateway patched games? Like if I play pokemon game online using my other game header. Will I be safe doing that or not?

I went online with Gateway on a Sun game, same time, same private header with my Sun cart, got banned in December of last year, so you're playing with fire there.

 

[TiredKorok]

Not everybody who have a CFW pirate games with it. There has to be people out there who only used it as a mean to patch their heavily censored game (:^)), cheat on their offline game, or have a custom theme, and banning those would be similar to a car brand fucking your engine up because you decided to paint the car you bought from them.

to be fair they may just be willing to take the loss of those who havent been *pirating to ban the majority of those hit who have hacked their system at least partially for piracy which isn't a totally awful idea for them if they really see us as that harmful

edit: to clarify

 

[Majickhat55]

Ok then, brb making my own ToS with the line "We will ban you for no reason if we're on a bad mood that day and we feel like it"

Just hope people don't read it before they sign it, like we all do......... Has anyone ever read an entire contract before signing it? Probably not.

 

[SynnFrost]

Just noticed I was banned. The biggest thing I've done was switch to B9S. I haven't gone online with my system in about a month.

 

[Onepunchbruh]

I went online with Gateway on a Sun game, same time, same private header with my Sun cart, got banned in December of last year, so you're playing with fire there.

You might have used cheats right?