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 !

 

[ManuelKoegler]

I know these are desperate times, but i found this and I think it's hilarious!

I dindu nuffin! I was a good boy!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Veranek]

As long for it to be a wave, ontop of they'd need u all online. You would also need to see if at this moment 500 people were banned, at this moment 500. All we see is one here, one there, 30 here 10 there.....not consistent for a wave. Sorry.

Not everyone that is banned posts about it, and it has been very obvious in the past that they are waves, exactly because people come here to report that they aren't banned just to come back and cry. This happened in the SM banned, I know because it happened to me.

Regardless,we shall se in the coming days and weeks if the bans are indeed being rolled out on a schedule. To me, at least, that seems pretty obvious.

 

[Carlos_DobleC]

It's just a question of curiosity, since I have not been banned, but why do you have to clean your friends list and unlink your NNID to inject the LFCS_B?

 

[Veranek]

It's just a question of curiosity, since I have not been banned, but why do you have to clean your friends list and unlink your NNID to inject the LFCS_B?

You don't. I'm not sure where you got that information from, but it is bad. All you need is the lfcs_b and decrypt9

 

[MatchaChan_]

Running Luma on 11.4 and I haven't been banned, I play Pokémon Sun, SSB(illegal), Tomodachi Life(illegal) and Triforce Heros(illegal)
I haven't turned my 3DS on in the past week though so maybe that's why?

 

[W4T4R1]

Running Luma on 11.4 and I haven't been banned, I play Pokémon Sun, SSB(illegal), Tomodachi Life(illegal) and Triforce Heros(illegal)
I haven't turned my 3DS on in the past week though so maybe that's why?

No one can tell. Maybe you are safe, maybe you will be in the next ban wave

 

[wurffl]

Btw.
I have 3 3ds systems running on luma, 2 of which got banned.
The one still working fine is the only one on which I haven't created a custom Mii, therefore has an empty friendslist.
My guess is that the function of showing your friends what game you're playing is sending nintendo the crucial information,
but I am propably wrong since I only use and observe what's happening in this lovely thing we call 3ds hacking scene.

Still happy and greatful for the things smea, plutoo, aurora and all the others are doing

 

[telly23]

The one still working fine is the only one on which I haven't created a custom Mii, therefore has an empty friendslist.

You raise a good question.
I'm not banned, but my friendlist is empty. Can someone else with an empty friendlist confirm he got banned ?

EDIT: Disregard, having an empty friendlist does not prevent the ban, confirmed by other users below

 

[Kevinkanselaar]

Would my cia games be save ?
Pokemon yellow
Mario kart 7
Super Mario bros 2

Don't have cfw

 

[MrErdo]

I haven't used my 2ds for a long time. When starting up should I go outside the house to prevent it connecting to the network? I only play Pokémon and Mario card. So I guess I can't play online Maria card anymore?

 

[W4T4R1]

You raise a good question.
I'm not banned, but my friendlist is empty. Can someone else with an empty friendlist confirm he got banned ?

I have two 3DSes, the Old one with NNID and full friendlist, the New one without NNID and empty friendlist (it prompts me to login):
The only one that have been banned is the NEW

 

[Oleboy555]

so with the ban no more online playing right? any other downsides?

 

[Slattz]

So I decided to find out what the 3DS actually sends to/recieves from the online servers when connecting to it. I'm gonna post my findings here, hopefully they'll be useful Everything is sent to the server in Base64, I've converted most to UTF-8.

These are the responses I get from https://nasc.nintendowifi.net/ac (after nintendo validates if you can go online essentially).

Responses:

Spoiler: Response from the server with Ban

Base64: retry=MA**&returncd=MTAy&datetime=MjAxNzA1MjUwODQ4NDk*
UTF-8: retry=0**&returncd=102&datetime=20170525084849*

Spoiler: Response from the server without Ban

Pink: A server and port
Red: A retry variable, setting to 1 (MQ) done nothing.
Orange: return code, presuming it controls if you get an error code or not & what error.
Blue & Purple: Token Auntentication?
Blue: Static part of token, probably generated from the LFCS or something else that doesn't change.
Purple: (presumably) Randomly generated part of token.
Green: Current Time (Format: YYYY/MM/DD/HH/MM/SS)
NOTE: I've removed some of the Blue text (replaced with Z) as it seems to be static so it might be identifiable.

Base64:

Spoiler: ‌‌

locator=NTIuMTk2LjI1My4xMjg6NDAwMDA*&retry=MA**&returncd=MDAx&token=.ahZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ8CVjiC86ra7pVXT1ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZIk6ZudZZKwcZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAHnhK0z-uaThsITGiZZZZZZZZZZ46EW0Lrg1hvWeWi7Utb2rV1SNEW01VNjN8w1oIte64G8Flyw**&datetime=MjAxNzA1MjUwOTEyNDk*

UTF-8:

Spoiler: ‌‌

locator=52.196.253.128:40000*&retry=0**&returncd=001&token=idk**&datetime=20170525091249*

And these are what the 3DS sends to the server before the above responses:

Requests:

Spoiler: 3DS Requests to nasc.nintendowifi.net/ac

Note: The following requests were from when going online via the friends applet, some results may vary depending on the module/app you're using.

gameid=MDAwMDMyMDA* | gameid=3200 (idk what this is, it dosn't seem to be a system TID Low)

sdkver=MDAwMDAw | sdkver=0 (idk why it would send this)

titleid=MDAwNDAxMzAwMDAwMzIwMg** | titleid=0004013000003202 (current title id, for me it was frineds module, like I said above. Sidenote: This is most likely how Ninty saw who was connected to online on Pkmn SuMo early)

gamecd=LS0tLQ** | gamecd=---- (Current Game Card ID?)

gamever=MDAwRg** | gamever=000F (Current Game Card's Version?)

mediatype=MA** | mediatye=0 (If game or something else??)

makercd=MDA* | makercd=00 (Game Card Manufacturer?)

unitcd=Mg** | unitcd=2 (Game Card is type Card2? [both game and save on card] - didn't change using card1...)

macadr=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX | macadr=YYYYYYYYYYYY (Not leaving my MAC here, MAC is self explanatory)

bssid=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX | bssid=YYYYYYYYYYYY (Not leaving BSSID here either)

apinfo=MDE6MDAwMDAwMDAwMA** | apinfo=01:0000000000 (Preumably what internet connection [out of the 3] you're using?)

fcdcert XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX-X.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.XXXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX*

fcdcert (LFCS in Base64. Not sharing it as a) private LFCS, b) copyrighted?)
fcdcert -> LFCS offset equivelants
Pink = 0x0 - 0x4A
Purple = 0x? (Don't think Purple is actually the LFCS)
Blue = 0x?
Light Blue = 0x75 - 0x?
Dark Green = 0x?
Green = 0x?
Lime= 0x?
Yellow = 0x?
Orange = 0x?
Red = 0xE6/0xE7 - 0x110 (EOF)
NOTE: At this point I'm not bothered to find the offsets for the the other colours but this is the structure the 3DS sends the whole LFCS to the server (BASE64). And if it send it to the server, does that mean the server holds the RSA key to decrypt them & verify it with the seed??

devname JABIAKoAtgCsICAAJABMAKoAICA* = (3DS Username)

servertype TDE* = servertype L1 (idk)

fpdver MDAwQQ** = fpdver 000A (Friends Module Version)

devtime MTcwNTI1MTEyNjM2 | devtime 170525112636 (Format: YY/MM/DD/HH/MM/SS)

lang MDE* | lang 01 (Language Code, 01 is English)

region MDI* | region 02 (Current 3DS Region, 02 is EUR)

csnum Q0VIMTEZZZZZZZZ* | csnum CEH11ZZZZZZ (Current 3DS Serial Number)

uidhmac=XXXXXXXXXXX* | uidhmac=YYYYYYYY (UserID HMAC?)

userid=XXXXXXXXXXXX | userid=YYYYYYYYY (User ID)

action=TE9HSU4* | action=LOGIN (Tell the server to login)

ingamesn (there was no value for this, even when in a game so idk what it does)

Spoiler: ‌‌My 3DS setup (incase wanted)

• o3ds
• EUR 11.4
• Luma3ds 7.1
• B9S
• SciresM's SSL patch

However, I was using a public LFCS, therefore, if one person using it got banned, the rest of us did too. So my info is probably invalid/not needed.

If some info is wrong, feel free to let me know and I'll update it
So hopefully this will be useful. Even if it's not at least it lets us know how the 3DS operates with the server when trying to go online

@Chary Could you perhaps link this post in the OP? It's seemed to have gotten buried and might help regards to knowing what the 3DS sends when connecting to online services

 

[danzou22]

We know that through spotpass and friend list we send data to Nintendo, but is there any confirmation that our activity log is being sended too?
When you spotpass or streetpass (or whatever is called) with some people can you see their history log? I have never use this functions.

 

[zcole16]

I'm not currently banned yet, installed cfw a few days ago, I haven't played any games online yet, I've installed custom themes, and used the freeshop.
I've never edited any save files, hopefully this info can help a little bit.

 

[Arck]

@Chary Could you perhaps link this post in the OP? It's seemed to have gotten buried and might help regards to knowing what the 3DS sends when connecting to online services

well it sent the cert, which is encoded with base64 in a process, if you want to be unbanned you need to change this file.

 

[mario-lucis-caelum]

You raise a good question.
I'm not banned, but my friendlist is empty. Can someone else with an empty friendlist confirm he got banned ?

EDIT: Disregard, having an empty friendlist does not prevent the ban, confirmed by other users below

I don't have any friends but the banhammer still got me. Funny cause yesterday my 3DS wasn't banned.

 

[Osakasan]

My 3Ds hasn't been banned yet but I'm sure it will soon. I think the bans will be pushed out in waves.
But I decided this morning that I'm finished with Nintendo because CFW allows me to do the things that Nintendo won't but should. I can play the whole history of Nintendo games and tweak the screen settings as I want to. Last month I was playing Mother 3 translation and that's just the start but themes and badges should have been more open for personal customisation, if Nintendo want to compete with smartphones then they need to get with the times.
I'm selling my 3DS and Switch and from now on I will play my Nintendo games on my Galaxy S8.

CFW allows us to do all that. At the risk of getting banned.

You gave us you 5 cent so don't mind if i do the same to you.

You're selling your consoles for a machine that

a) Is only able to emulate nintendo machines up to Wii
b) Will force you to carry an additional controller with you, unless you want to go full touch
c) Is as expensive as a mid-end computer that can do much, much more

Let me tell you, that's a really bad deal you're doing there. Not to say that you're not losing your ability to mess with your machine, you just can't play online anymore.

Every single banwave thread is amazing, so much entitlement for something we bring to ourselves. If anything, Nintendo has been too soft, since it gave us up to this week to use CFW freely. This is what you get when you mess with propietary hardware.

 

[Txustra]

Anything new in terms of how to bypass the ban?

 

[Slattz]

well it sent the cert, which is encoded with base64 in a process, if you want to be unbanned you need to change this file.

Yea. Though it also means that the server has the key to verify/decrypt the RSA signature with the seed. So if anyones good at hacking servers... jk