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 !

 

[FateForWindows]

I have installed Pokemon Ultra Sun and 1.2 update with fbi via that titlekeys website. (same effect as downloading from freeshop)
I already traded some pokemon via wonder trade and GTS and still aren't banned.

So, I thing the phrase
"Nintendo had begun checking the Eshop tickets against the ticket.db of the users for the games they don't own."
is false.

My Nintendo 3DS is linked with an NNID.

Just because you weren't affected doesn't mean others weren't. We still have no idea how people of the CFW banwave (the one in the OP) got banned or how they could've prevented it.

 

[TesseractStorm]

I'll say for what little it helps, haven't been banned. Had UM from freeshop but never updated or played it really.

 

[MadonnaProject]

Do these bans happen if you've played online or will taking your 3ds online simply cause it?

 

[TesseractStorm]

Do these bans happen if you've played online or will taking your 3ds online simply cause it?

So far there's no firm consensus. Closest thing to a theory I've seen is that using .cia homebrew can lead to a ban.

The current wave seems to be related to the 1.2 update for Pokemon USUM. From what I've seen a majority of bans seem to have some connection to the Pokemon games, one reason I don't play them except the one legit one I have and no cheats, hacks, or mods on it.

 

[Purge]

So far there's no firm consensus. Closest thing to a theory I've seen is that using .cia homebrew can lead to a ban.

The current wave seems to be related to the 1.2 update for Pokemon USUM. From what I've seen a majority of bans seem to have some connection to the Pokemon games, one reason I don't play them except the one legit one I have and no cheats, hacks, or mods on it.

There is no proof that playing a pirated copy of USUM 1.2 results in a ban. Pokémon is a popular game. A lot of the people who got banned are naturally going to have an updated version of this game on their 3ds.

There are plenty of people, such as myself, who also have USUM 1.2 and haven’t been banned. Until I see proof/irrefutable evidence that this is what is causing the ban, I’m just going to call this fear mongering.

 

[TesseractStorm]

There is no proof that playing a pirated copy of USUM 1.2 results in a ban. Pokémon is a popular game. A lot of the people who got banned are naturally going to have an updated version of this game on their 3ds.

There are plenty of people, such as myself, who also have USUM 1.2 and haven’t been banned. Until I see proof/irrefutable evidence that this is what is causing the ban, I’m just going to call this fear mongering.

I was just noting what I've seen in the three banwaves I've watched. The first was explicitly caused by pirating Pokemon games before their release. But the other two could easily be coincidence given how popular the series is.

 

[fedehda]

My friend only has .3dsx apps that he uses rosalina. Unfortunately, he had spotpass and share information turned on. He downloaded Ultra Moon via freeshop and then updated to 1.2. He played online with that copy.

I wasn't banned, while I had spotpass and share information turned off, and didn't go online with ultra moon (in fact, i haven't played it anyways)

 

[SaberLilly]

Well my 3DS got banned finally, I don't think it was the pokemon update 1.2 though as I never went online with the update installed. Only new thing I've done is do a GBA Virtual Console Injection, or Nintendo just finally caught up with my shenanigans

 

[Deleted User]

My friend only has .3dsx apps that he uses rosalina. Unfortunately, he had spotpass and share information turned on. He downloaded Ultra Moon via freeshop and then updated to 1.2. He played online with that copy.

I wasn't banned, while I had spotpass and share information turned off, and didn't go online with ultra moon (in fact, i haven't played it anyways)

The spotpass and friend list theory was proven wrong.People got banned even with spotpass off.Using homebrew with the Wi-Fi on is the only trigger that can be narrowed down or any out of region/region free game.

 

[comput3rus3r]

Well my 3DS got banned finally, I don't think it was the pokemon update 1.2 though as I never went online with the update installed. Only new thing I've done is do a GBA Virtual Console Injection, or Nintendo just finally caught up with my shenanigans

what firmware are you on?

 

[SaberLilly]

what firmware are you on?

the 11.6 firmware.

 

[comput3rus3r]

the 11.6 firmware.

I know they say it's ok to update but i'm still on 11.2 and I haven't been banned.

 

[SaberLilly]

Yeah, I mean they said it was alright, and I assume it still is, some people are saying its the pokemon 1.2 update (like those last random game updates/DLCs people were saying triggered bans) heck I could go full blown conspiracy theory here and say nintendo does it completely at random so people buy new systems, or banning the old 3ds/2ds families for the same reasons although I know this isn't the case so please don't hold it against me XD.

 

[gamemasteru03]

Hey there I've had my 3ds banned from online play since the first ever ban wave last year and I would love to play online again but I don't have one of these extra LocalFriendCodeSeedBs.. could you please pm me if possible? Much thanks..

My friend was banned last week. Spotpass seemed to be turned on. He uses rosalina only

Hi, today my console has been banned. I own another console with CFW (not banned). What can I do to remove the ban on my 2ds?

Follow this guide and you guys will become unbanned: https://gbatemp.net/threads/all-3-methods-to-get-unbanned-from-recent-ban-wave.450679/

 

[trecko1234]

I think it is safe to say that updating to 1.2 on USUM and going online isn't the cause of the banwaves. There are enough reports (me included) of people pirating USUM, updating to 1.2, going online and still not being banned. Yes, we don't know the cause of the banwave, but saying that that is the problem is just spreading misinformation and getting people more worried than necessary.

 

[SaberLilly]

Yeah, I honestly think I was banned because I used a Virtual Console Injection for a game that's not available on the E-shop and forgot to change its ID

 

[Deleted User]

Yeah, I honestly think I was banned because I used a Virtual Console Injection for a game that's not available on the E-shop and forgot to change its ID

Vc injects,homebrew and out of region/region free games all count as unsupported software for the 3ds.Using any of these things with the Wi-Fi switch on is likely to cause a ban.

 

[SaberLilly]

Vc injects,homebrew and out of region/region free games all count as unsupported software for the 3ds.Using any of these things with the Wi-Fi switch on is likely to cause a ban.

Heh, I'd laugh if it turned out that using only 1 VC inject got my system banned, because i use homebrew since 11.2/11.3, and haven't been banned until sometime starting on the 15th. I think the banwave started around then.

 

[Deleted User]

Heh, I'd laugh if it turned out that using only 1 VC inject got my system banned, because i use homebrew since 11.2/11.3, and haven't been banned until sometime starting on the 15th. I think the banwave started around then.

From all the statistics we have,Nintendo doesn't seem to ban people right away,but it seems like they list off what seeds to ban first while biding there time from however they are recording users using unsupported software.Im guessing once they gather enough Intel over a few months for specific users since there might be a limitation on how many people they can ban at once,they ban all the seeds they caught using unsupported software at the same time.The cycle will only repeat after a few months,they will mark down whoever used homebrew on there ban list,bide there time for other users they can catch using it and then ban them all at the same time.That way they can ban them even when they aren't online when they send out the wave to kill the seeds.

 

[Reaga]

Not banned yet, despite using NTR launcher online multiple times in January. Haven't updated USUM to 1.2, now worried about doing so