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 !

 

[player594]

Did you even read the forum before posting this? In this same subforum, just next to this thread, is one called "methods to get unbanned".

Ok first of all, if you took the time to quote me then you could have just as easily answered the question. Now to answer YOUR question, yes I saw that thread but I also saw it was old and that this is a new ban so I figured it wasn't the same. Excuse me if I was mistaken. Next time you want to bitch about someone asking a question and assuming they didn't look first, think twice. People like you are what's wrong with forums any more. Too quick to complain rather than just help.

Sent from my SHIELD Tablet K1 using Tapatalk

 

[jaimejimegon]

Pardon me for that edit I made, of course.
It is possible that they did transfer your NNID to another because the ban 002-0102 specifically is towards to online gaming and not to the Eshop/NNID ban.

If that were the case, they will not even let you transfer that NNID to another console.

Like me... even I lied and still they knew...
Damn November 2016.

Same here, I'm still crying for all my games T.T

 

[3DSBurg]

I think i Will buy sky3ds because its more secure but i can extract And inject saves to that flashcard with jksm? I have Gateway too but i think Gateway team is almost dead :/ what do you think? Can i Transfer my Cía saves to sky3ds?

Not sure if you've gotten an answer for this, but yes, I have personally, and it works.

 

[Dark Pulse]

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.

Here's what I don't get.

By this logic, supposedly Nintendo checks your purchases up against eShop records, and if you're playing something you don't have on the eShop, you will (eventually) get banned.

But then wouldn't that mean that (hypothetically) they could ban you simply if you'd been using a physical version of a game, as opposed to a digital?

Something doesn't add up there. For that to be true, Nintendo has to somehow be able to distinguish between games you have a physical cartridge of (does it send some kind of identifier for that?) and titles that have been downloaded and installed.

And frankly, I think that "it's a matter of time" is simply implausible. Let's be blunt, Nintendo does not have time to go through every single log from every single 3DS. It'd take literally thousands upon thousands of people whose sole job it is is to sift through the logs, because there are literally millions and millions of units - 66 Million systems as of March 31st of this year.

Meaning even if you hired 50,000 people to do nothing but search through logs, they'd have to each look through over 1300 logs apiece. And that's assuming there's only one log per system - if it really does make a new log on their end with each reconnect, an individual 3DS could have dozens, hundreds, even thousands of logs - and that would increase the amount of logs to go through multiplefold.

You can automate this to some extent, but for that to work, Nintendo would have to have some good detection algorithms. Unknown TitleIDs is possible, but for the "Not eShop" theory to work, there'd have to be no bans in regions where Nintendo doesn't officially support eShop stuff - like Brazil - and I'm pretty sure that there's folks there who got banned too. (Either that or they figure everyone in Brazil is a pirate and just blanket-ban, which is even worse.)

Am I missing something here?

 

[Kanakops]

Hey all, any new about this devastating wave of ban? (I have stop to read at 300 I think)

 

[LoneSyn]

I havent been on this scene for a while, and none of my systems are banned.

Anyways, wouldnt system format be a viable option for unlinking NNID? This is assuming you verified your NNID via website and backed up your saves on JKSM. Otherwise, manual system transfer method (guide exists somewhere on this site... I used it last year around February).

 

[nitroBW]

Hey all, any new about this devastating wave of ban? (I have stop to read at 300 I think)

Not really, some more, but good speculations, which have been added to the OP, but nothing super important yet

 

[eiphreim]

Has anyone that previously hadn't been banned YET gotten banned in the meantime? I somehow am still yet to be banned.

 

[drsalvador555]

Has anyone that previously hadn't been banned YET gotten banned in the meantime? I somehow am still yet to be banned.

I think they do it en masse, it's just some people don't check right away. So for now I think it's over, but DON'T quote me on that. I just gave my two cents. Both of my 3DS consoles are fine still. 2DS and N3DSXL are both fine and unbanned but that doesn't mean I'm going to take a bunch of risks.

 

[Saiken07]

I think they do it en masse, it's just some people don't check right away. So for now I think it's over, but DON'T quote me on that. I just gave my two cents. Both of my 3DS consoles are fine still. 2DS and N3DSXL are both fine and unbanned but that doesn't mean I'm going to take a bunch of risks.

Inb4 they are done with their banning stuff and wont do it anymore for the next six months, ._.

 

[ShadowEO]

Has anyone that previously hadn't been banned YET gotten banned in the meantime? I somehow am still yet to be banned.

Not that we're aware of. Not even I have been banned, and I opened FreeShop, activity log, multiple games, etc. Just didn't play online with them.

edit: Thanks everyone, it's refreshing to open this up after not looking at it for 8 hours and not have to put it back on track for the first time in 4 days.

 

[BL4Z3D247]

I havent been on this scene for a while, and none of my systems are banned.

Anyways, wouldnt system format be a viable option for unlinking NNID? This is assuming you verified your NNID via website and backed up your saves on JKSM. Otherwise, manual system transfer method (guide exists somewhere on this site... I used it last year around February).

You can also do this to unlink a NNID without doing a system format:

Removing an NNID without formatting your device
What you need

• The latest release of GodMode9

Instructions

1. Copy GodMode9.firm from the GodMode9 .zip to the /luma/payloads/ folder on your SD card
2. Launch GodMode9 by pressing (A)
3. Navigate to [1:] SYSNAND CTRNAND -> data -> (32 Character ID) -> sysdata -> 00010038
4. Hold down the (R) trigger, then press (X) on 00000000 to rename this file
5. Press (Up) once to change the name to 10000000
6. Press (A) to save changes
7. Press (A) to unlock SysNAND writing, then input the key combo given
8. Navigate back to the Main Menu
9. Press (Start) to reboot your device

 

[LoneSyn]

Completely forgot that GM9 was made more user friendly since my time. I have been fiddling with an old abandoned o3DS trying to get it banned, but havent gotten any luck on it. Only things I havent tried is play games online using cheats (too lazy to install NTR) or playing a Pkmn game online and trading hacked mons (not a fan of the series).

 

[VassagoX]

Has anyone been banned that never plays online? I understand they would still have a record of what you've played, I'm just wondering if that is part of how they single out users.

 

[Powerful]

Well that update isn't any good news...

 

[Rei7]

Nintendo messing around with you guys. Would be really nice if they don't ban anymore and just serve the ban wave as a reminder of what they could do if they want to. But seriously if it isn't automated, it would be a waste of time for them for the most part, and not worth it.

 

[Zaphod77]

Here's what I don't get.

But then wouldn't that mean that (hypothetically) they could ban you simply if you'd been using a physical version of a game, as opposed to a digital?

no. carts have cart headers with unique serials instead of using console headers. CIAs use your console headers.

Here's what I don't get.
Something doesn't add up there. For that to be true, Nintendo has to somehow be able to distinguish between games you have a physical cartridge of (does it send some kind of identifier for that?) and titles that have been downloaded and installed.

They can. see above.

 

[Dark Pulse]

no. carts have cart headers with unique serials instead of using console headers. CIAs use your console headers.

They can. see above.

Okay, so that's one point down - yes, they can distinguish carts and CIAs, assuming that information gets sent in the dumps. (It says that it sends your most recently played game, but nothing about if it sends the game info along with a Console header or a cart serial number.)

What about the other two though?

 

[TinchoX]

Because you deleted some system apps like Health and Safety, that's why your 3ds is prompting you for an update to restore the deleted apps.

Oh crap, I can't even remember, I know I deleted some from my N3DS but I can't recall deleting anything on my o3DS, maybe I did when updating to B9S though... what a pain.

 

[KytuzuEX]

There's another method that you can use to System Transfer your system to another 3DS in case you get both 002-0102 (online ban) and 022-2634 (NNID ban) without needing to call Nintendo (since no access to NNID services means you can't perform a System Transfer). Can't say it is guaranteed to work, but if got my friend out of a jam. He obtained these two due to having gone online with the Japanese version of FE Echoes when it leaked (online ban) and having two emuNANDs with different NNIDs on the system (older NNID got the ban).

First, we imported a blank nnidsave.bin so his main NNID would be unlinked from the banned system. Then we imported a LFCSB that wasn't banned (don't know if this was required since LFCSB does not move during a System Transfer), and were able to perform a System Transfer to a non-hacked, fresh, New 3DS. This made it so all of his saves and paid games were transferred over, but he couldn't access the games he paid for since the NNID wasn't linked anymore. Since he wasn't on a hacked 3DS anymore, he was able to regain access to his paid games after relinking the NNID, and the system had no issue with doing so surprisingly. In the end, both ban codes have disappeared, and have yet to reappear.

I'm going to try, thanks.
I have been looking forward to do this since my NNID with purchases and my DSi stuff has been utterly banned.