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 !

 

[Deleted User]

no no no.

remember online play with a cia sends your console header. they can then look up the purchase history for said console, and when they don't see an issued ticket for the game...

They may or may not actually be doing it, but they certainly could.

That's the case for playing pirate games with the internet connection

 

[BARNWEY]

What title does the Homebrew Launcher report when being used?

Whatever title you launched it from... OOTHax would be reported as Ocarina of Time 3D, Ninjax would be Cubic Ninja, etc.

 

[McMadeEz]

Even now we don't know for sure what is causing the bans so... No! is not safe, I did it risking getting the "good" friendseed from my other 3DS banned. but the pokemon I had in pokemon bank are something that I can't afford to lose

and about method 3, yep it will work too.

I used method 3 so if I get banned with the public friend code it doesn't matter much to me. I went directly to pokebank after I got unbanned to get all my pokrmon out already.

 

[Joshwraith]

I don't know about FunKeyCIA.

As I said before freeShop fetch keys from the database, then construct a fake ticket with titleID, titlekey and titleversion filled in and compute the location of resources (TMD, Contents.. etc). Downloading the resource and finally call system routines to install them properly.

What my design comparing with freeShop is I move the download feature to PC side. Users only need to copy the "Bundle" to the 3DS, then install them with internet switch to OFF.

This is kind offtopic but as you two are interesting go to Wii U section and find "Wii U usb helper" it will work for the 3ds thing you want.

 

[player594]

Any way to unban my 3ds?

Sent from my SHIELD Tablet K1 using Tapatalk

 

[Joshwraith]

What title does the Homebrew Launcher report when being used?

If is executed with a secondary exploit ie soundhax is reported as "download and play", if is executed with the cia version well is reported as Hombrew launcher

 

[Astoria]

Any way to unban my 3ds?

Sent from my SHIELD Tablet K1 using Tapatalk

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".

 

[chartube12]

So this error code i have noticed it gives for the ban is the same error code several others have been getting on thier switches.

 

[raphamotta]

If I use FBI injected in H&S, then start a cia INSIDE FBI. .. maybe it will show to nintendo I'm playing H&S?

What do you think this idea?

 

[DocKlokMan]

It is sent constantly though TCP, think of how you'd record a livestream. It's the same kind of thing, except it's data collecting for surveillance purposes.

Hey @Platinum Lucario, thanks for all the info you're providing. I was wondering if you could reveal more about your source for this information or recorded examples if you did them yourself? I'm not trying to discredit you or anything but if you could provide some more info it could get us to a solution faster to help prevent this stuff in the future. Right now no one is willing to take the time to try and patch something that's not yet proven so our first step is convincing those with the skills that it's worth their time to implement.

 

[angelus kun]

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?

 

[Zaphod77]

Okay question for all who have had OFW consoles banned.

1) have they been system transferred to? If so do you still have the one you transferred to?
2) has any hacked consoles been used in the same house?
3) have hax been used without installing cfw?

Can anyone say no to all of those?

if someone says yes to only #2, then we have proof that nintendo is trying to get clean consoles owned by hackers who keep a separate legit console to make them buy a new on still.

 

[Awakened_Xander]

It looks like PTM is what actually collects that information: https://www.3dbrew.org/wiki/PTM_Services considering that it has functions for calculating play history, clearing play history, and even has a function for grabbing it. I'm thinking that Activity Log may just be a UI for it's library and PTM (but someone more knowledgeable about this than me should correct me if this is wrong. I'm going off what I'm finding on 3dbrew for internal workings of the 3DS.

--------------------- MERGED --------------------------- <-- didn't mean to do this LOL, accidentally hit something while leaning on my keyboard XD

So even then, it'll still detect that NTR is running when it didn't initially show up on their servers when I booted it up offline, play a game, and turning Wi-Fi back on?

I'm just a little confused about what you stated, but I think I get the gist of it. I just want to see if I'm right or wrong about this.

 

[Joshwraith]

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?

Yes you can use JKSm and transfer your save without issue.

 

[ShadowEO]

So even then, it'll still detect that NTR is running when it didn't initially show up on their servers when I booted it up offline, play a game, and turning Wi-Fi back on?

I'm just a little confused about what you stated, but I think I get the gist of it. I just want to see if I'm right or wrong about this.

I'd believe that's the gist of it, but that's assuming that Nintendo collects Activity Log information. The information that @Platinum Lucario has contributed suggests that they don't.

 

[Asterik1904]

Haven't been banned yet but it's only a matter of time. Guess it's time to finally upgrade to a new 3DS. I really liked how the og ones look.

 

[RustInPeace]

Okay, I think I've actually worked out how the data of the 3DS systems are being sent to Nintendo.

Where does NTR CFW figure into this? I boot that up all the time, to try cheats (OFFLINE, online battle cheats for SuMo are disabled anyways), or mainly for usage with PKMN-NTR and PokeCalcNTR. Nintendo can track that, as running the launcher only takes a few seconds, but the assumption is they can trace a console letting that hook onto it, if that makes sense? Another app I use a lot is InputRedirectionNTR, which pairs with specific things I do with the aforementioned Pokemon based tools. My banned console, pretty much all my consoles tend to just run NTR, InputRedirectionNTR, and that's it. On occasion JK's Save Manager, often FTPD, and FBI, and that's it. So I'm at a high risk? I would have to block the websites that the 3DS sends data to?

 

[Awakened_Xander]

If these are game carts, no. Dumped cartridges have a unique header which your copy will only match your cartridge. As long as you don't share that copy, your dumped copy will continue to look legitimate.

Wait...what if you borrow that cartridge with a friend and/or buy a preowned one after you lost or sold your original? Will it false flag your system since you're not using the same cartridge that you originally played on your system?

 

[SirByte]

Question: suppose you're an a**hole. Would it be possible, with a non-banned console, to go to a "meetup" and add friends / use spotpass and somehow (using a homebrew) collect other people's LFCS_B and RSA signature? Otherwise, would it be possible to fake a Nintendo Hotspot (e.g. using a linux-based laptop) and do the same (kind of Stingray)?
I'm not aiming to do this, but if we can prove this is possible, or even demonstrated in court, it would corroborate "I am innocent, your honor!" claims and Nintendo can't ban anymore since it's too easy to use innocent victim's LFCS_B.

 

[Awakened_Xander]

I'd believe that's the gist of it, but that's assuming that Nintendo collects Activity Log information. The information that @Platinum Lucario has contributed suggests that they don't.

Ah, OK.

I'm just wondering, in case I do want to play games online and stream at the same time. Hopefully it's true that they don't collect that particular info so I won't get banned in the future if I do get another N3DS for that sole purpose.