Homebrew COMPLETED The definitive guide to: Will i get banned?

[Phenj]

This is what we know so far after over a year of hacking:
Always remember, always use the latest CFW version, disable telemetry if you're in the EU (or just block specific urls) and do not delete your logs. Also, Atmosphere is recommended since it auto-migrates homebrew error logs.
Instant ban:


Not instant ban, but still a ban:


Not a ban, so far:



Uncertain:
• Deleting logs with nx-dreport. Personally i used it for over a year to delete any trace in my Switch and i'm not banned to this day, however, we have one confirmed ban due to deleting logs.



Thanks to the ReSwitched Discord for various infos.

 

[Phenj]

Keep in mind that everything listed is valid as of july 2019, anything might change in the future.

 

[Lacius]

Some of the things listed under "Not a ban, so far" can actually lead to a ban, such as playing XCI files offline.

 

[Phenj]

Some of the things listed under "Not a ban, so far" can actually lead to a ban, such as playing XCI files offline.

That's not true. So far means that it doesn't lead to a ban as of 20/07/2019, which might change in the future.
Source: I've been playing .XCI games offline with SX-OS since july 2018 and i'm not banned yet. I know what i'm talking about.

 

[Cubuss]

Sweet seems like im not bained yet,

 

[Eeveekid]

wasnt there a case where people got beaned who played locally with a banned switch?

 

[Phenj]

wasnt there a case where people got beaned who played locally with a banned switch?

Not to my knowledge, could you please give me the source? If true, I'll immediately add it to the list!

 

[Eeveekid]

Not to my knowledge, could you please give me the source? If true, I'll immediately add it to the list!

i only heard of didyouknowganing sorry


heres the link

 

[Rahkeesh]

In theory if any kind of modded items got traded that would look like save game tampering.

Also there was one story here that involved posting a video of playing with their cheater relative on that Smash app. The legit person got their smash account banned (not console or other games) likely just cause some moderator saw the video.

 

[RHOPKINS13]

Source: I've been playing .XCI games offline with SX-OS since july 2018 and i'm not banned yet. I know what i'm talking about.

That's only your personal experience. We have other users who claim they've been banned strictly for using homebrew. I'm sure I don't need to link you to this, but we already have a thread where we've been collecting this data in order to determine what's safe and not safe regarding bans:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/nintendo-switch-banning-hub-warning.508710/

And there's a lot more data in there than what you have from just your own, personal experience.

If you want to use homebrew and not get banned, by far your safest bet is to put your Switch offline (airplane mode), use Hekate to make a backup of your clean NAND, and use that backup to setup emuNAND on Atmosphere. Keep emuNAND strictly offline, and restrict your homebrew use to emuNAND. That is the 100% guaranteed way of using homebrew, while still being able to play legit games online, while not getting banned.

Anything else is a ban risk. There are other things you can do, like use Incognito and/or 90DNS on emuNAND in order to put it online without being banned, but that's not entirely foolproof either. If Nintendo releases an update, they could collect telemetry using a static IP rather than a domain name, rendering 90DNS useless. Have a linked Nintendo ID? They could theoretically use that to ban you in a later update if it finds that Incognito has wiped your ProdInfo. Some people use AutoRCM, which requires a custom bootloader if you still want to boot stock. We have no evidence of Nintendo banning based on number of burnt fuses, using a custom bootloader, or AutoRCM, but there's nothing stopping them from doing this later in an update. For all we know they could be just collecting a large list of people with burnt fuses or AutoRCM, and they could drop the banhammer on all of them at once. But I'll acknowledge there is zero evidence to support this.

 

[Lacius]

That's not true. So far means that it doesn't lead to a ban as of 20/07/2019, which might change in the future.
Source: I've been playing .XCI games offline with SX-OS since july 2018 and i'm not banned yet. I know what i'm talking about.

Because you haven't been banned doesn't mean others haven't. People have been banned for using XCI files offline and then connecting to the internet later, for example. There are a lot of variables at play, but it's irresponsible to mistakenly say "these things have not led to any bans yet."

 

[JonJaded]

Add changing profile picture to the orange section.

There are people who play online with no hacks but use a custom profile picture. They probably need a manual review to be banned.

 

[Rahkeesh]

Its probably worth asking "which homebrew", they do pretty different things and some may be safer than others. Heck I'm concerned about which app you use title redirection to hbmenu on.

As for XCI, I thought every cart had a unique ID that an XCI dump duplicated. So if that ID somehow gets sent to Nintendo and they see a ton of people using it simultaneously, it could lead to bannings. Meaning it begins to matter which XCI you are using, and whether they are home dumps or shared files and how widely shared. Heck Nintendo might even treat first party titles differently, or time the ban searches relative to release dates, etc.

The safest course is obviously to never let any NAND that has touched anything custom connect to Nintendo servers, but I'd like to investigate the relative safety of riskier options as well.

 

[SeongGino]

We have other users who claim they've been banned strictly for using homebrew.

Then clearly there's something missing between the lines.
Source: Am also an unbanned user that strictly uses homebrew (RetroArch, source ports, other emulators, and that's it) for more than a year now.
As much as you can't ignore those who supposedly have received bans for X reason, you also can't ignore those who haven't received bans for X reason, especially for this long.

 

[Username4321]

Doesn't loading XCIs with SXOS count as piracy?

 

[Phenj]

Doesn't loading XCIs with SXOS count as piracy?

If done properly, playing XCI offline doesn't leave any bad trace into your console.

 

[masagrator]

i only heard of didyouknowganing sorry


heres the link

This video is mostly bullshit. Ignore it.

 

[Basketto]

I think on the banning reports thread there have been reports in the past for for using homebrew and going online. Not many, but it supposedly has happened. Having said that, why isn’t this thread on the hacking forum? It is most definitely not an emulation/software project topic.

 

[nicoboss]

What's about MitM SSL of online games to passively sniff thair traffic (without modifying anything) using misson2000's ExeFS patches which bypasses CA checks? Never tried them so far because no idea if this will get you banned. Is there technically even a way for them to know if an untrusted CA was used as the patches itself most likely won't lead to a ban as they are often even included with the CFW by default.

 

[Ecko3351]

Installing Nsp files are safe on sx os right? I only install dlc and update files to micrso sd