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 !

 

[Funkymon]

BEING CONSTRUCTIVE IS, however, wanting to know the past week or two all games played and details on cheat used, other CIAS installed....but hey, u just wanna discuss nintendos TOS and friend code injects, cool.

Nah, being constructive would be compiling the info that already exists in the thread and recognizing that there's no single common factor. But I guess yelling on forums could be helpful to or something.

 

[A Plus Ric]

I agree with you on this, I have SpotPass turned on and set to default values on two different consoles. If a deciding factor was your SpotPass settings, those of us with it set to defaults and sending Nintendo console usage information should reasonably have been banned. I know they could have staggered said ban, but reasonably, there'd be no reason to stagger it if they had a reliable source of information. They didn't stagger the banwave back during SuMo, it would stand to reason that they wouldn't entirely stagger it now either, unless they had a reason.

I've noticed most that get banned after weren't banned trying, it seems to be rapidly after they played a bit. Still leads me to think it's a detect and react, over a wave. But noone likes to admit what they were doing mostly when it happens.

 

[TinchoX]

So, is there anything I can do at all? I'm upset to find my seemingly brilliant idea would not work at all...
Or do I just wait and hope that I'm safe from this new ban?

I'm sorry to let you down, but whatever we try, smart or not, is useless right now, as the banwave already hit countless people, and it's still hitting more as we speak... nothing we do right now is "SAFE", until we find out what EXACTLY it is that is setting off the flag, again, anything we do right now, is useless, you need to be patient now, and provide info, that's the only way to help the rest.

 

[A Plus Ric]

Nah, being constructive would be compiling the info that already exists in the thread and recognizing that there's no single common factor. But I guess yelling on forums could be helpful to or something.

Your cannot gather the correct information when people don't give the needed information. This first started asking was it this, then added slowly a few added things. Noone saying their games played, if using saves edited, using cheats etc......and the ones that do, don't say all the stuff, they usually go into a "it cannot be that, that's not cheating".

 

[JerryShaw]

Good, just tested. 2 consoles, NOT banned! And restarted for several times and keep running staying on Friend List to make sure of it.
All settings like SpotPass, Friend List title showing, Activity Log were set to off or cleaned just yesterday. And the day before yesterday, in the night, I used FBI to install DLCs for both consoles with all settings to default (ON), I clearly remember that, the friend list title showed FBI and Quick Shutdown in each other.
One is US, the other is Ja changed to US.
Both with B9S and Luma 7.1 the latest compiled, using RedNAND, not SysNAND.
I think I could make a vote.

 

[Funkymon]

Your cannot gather the correct information when people don't give the needed information. This first started asking was it this, then added slowly a few added things. Noone saying their games played, if using saves edited, using cheats etc......and the ones that do, don't say all the stuff, they usually go into a "it cannot be that, that's not cheating".

Read the thread. People have been banned on 3DS systems that haven't been played in months. So before developing a new survey you think will fix everything, read the thread.

 

[Captain_N]

That is unlikely to tell us anything, unless you're banned straight out, which seems unlikely. It's more likely you'd be added to a list to be banned during some future wave.

well httpwn v1.0.1 used to work with my existing config file. ill have to try the new version

 

[BL4Z3D247]

I don't want to wipe the data completely, I only want to remove all the data relating to homebrew apps

Ah, gotcha.

Doubt it will since your activity log has been reported to Nintendo already

I really don't care if I get banned as I've never played online to begin with. I only did it as a test.

 

[A Plus Ric]

Read the thread. People have been banned on 3DS systems that haven't been played in months. So before developing a new survey you think will fix everything, read the thread.

I've been paying attention to the thread...have you? That's why I said they are lying, or leaving stuff out. (Maybe to not lose their forum status or not). I've watched and given theories from watching and reading. You just wanna argue now, too.

 

[LinkBlaBla]

It is the second coming of jesus that why we see all those bans you are all doomed !just give me those 3ds il do a fireplace with those bricks so i can enjoy your doom!


Hahahahahaha to you all banned people!

 

[SaffronXL]

So, how difficult is it to modify secureinfo_a, and what pitfalls exist?

It's easy but pointless, this type of ban doesn't identify your system using its serial, it checks the value of your LFCS_b.

 

[TinchoX]

I've been paying attention to the thread...have you? That's why I said they are lying, or leaving stuff out. (Maybe to not lose their forum status or not). I've watched and given theories from watching and reading. You just wanna argue now, too.

Well I sure hope you got my info, I posted it like 4 times already but nobody seems to give a crap about it...
It might be useful in the future, who knows~

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

It is the second coming of jesus that why we see all those bans you are all doomed !just give me those 3ds il do a fireplace with those bricks so i can enjoy your doom!


Hahahahahaha to you all banned people!

Tell me you are not serious.

 

[Funkymon]

I've been paying attention to the thread...have you? That's why I said they are lying, or leaving stuff out. (Maybe to not lose their forum status or not). I've watched and given theories from watching and reading. You just wanna argue now, too.

I'm not so much arguing, as pointing out why nobody cares about you trying to shoehorn in a new survey.

 

[SRKTiberious]

It's easy but pointless, this type of ban doesn't identify your system using its serial, it checks the value of your LFCS_b.

So it won't cause that serial to get whacked too?

 

[ShadowEO]

It is the second coming of jesus that why we see all those bans you are all doomed !just give me those 3ds il do a fireplace with those bricks so i can enjoy your doom!


Hahahahahaha to you all banned people!

You know that not everyone in this topic has been banned right? A lot of us who aren't are trying to figure out why those who were banned are. Perhaps you should attempt to be constructive as well, rather than be disruptive?

 

[nitroBW]

Your try to discredit every issue other than spotpass. Yet many of us with it on, have had no problems, and still have it on. You call me a kid, yet you use words like "jews" to describe stuff, and seem to think save editing is not a form of cheating......and for someone who hasn't been banned, you've been nonstop in here all day, getting that post count up, usually just discrediting any theories because you think it can't be that, but don't think knowing all aspects of banned users (which u decided to dump on essentially) will figure the answer out.

Being constructive is not "that can't be...nintendo is just mean and will ban u cuz they don't like you.....it's in their TOS".

BEING CONSTRUCTIVE IS, however, wanting to know the past week or two all games played and details on cheat used, other CIAS installed....but hey, u just wanna discuss nintendos TOS and friend code injects, cool.

What I say in a private chat doesn't matter in this discussion, the fact that you bring that up, makes you seem desperate.
I'm not discrediting any issue other than spotpass, please give me one theory that wasn't complete shit or impossible, we debunked everything so far and I'm saying that spotpass is MOST LIKELY the reason. Save editing is cheating and I've said that before. Not sure why you claim wrong things now.
Where are you sources? So far I have correctly disproven wrong theories, we know for a fact that you can't unban with SecureInfo_A only, so why are people still thinking they can? If someone says he thinks it's because of the Fire Emblem DLC, that user is not wrong, you get banned for having that one early, but is unlikely that it is a maincause of this banwave, since most people reporting a ban didn't have it. So please, if you really think I "discredited" anything because of wrong reasons, give me a source and I can explain to you why it's probably a wrong theory.

it seems like you are a bit retarded, since I can know very much about a topic without being hit by it. Smealum wasn't hit by the banwave, do you think he knows more about the aspects of banned people? He probably does, doesn't he? I've been reading this thread and other threads for 3 days straight, the chance of me knowing more about the bans than a person who hasn't read 250 pages of this thread and hasn't talked with actual devs is pretty high, don't you think?
I actively reported people harrassing banned people and tried to disprove wrong theories, if you think you know it better, give me evidence how I'm wrong.

Also, I bring up the ToS everytime someone says that banning us is unfair or illegal, which is wrong.
Everything you call "constructive" has been discussed by me and others 2 days ago already

 

[LinkBlaBla]

You know that not everyone in this topic has been banned right? A lot of us who aren't are trying to figure out why those who were banned are. Perhaps you should attempt to be constructive as well, rather than be disruptive?

Shhh u party pooper...

 

[A Plus Ric]

Well I sure hope you got my info, I posted it like 4 times already but nobody seems to give a crap about it...
It might be useful in the future, who knows~

I keep reading. I'm still thinking it's Cia with invalid tickets or hacked save files/ gamessage played online.

 

[BedrockSolid]

Will moving from a9lh to b9s affect my device? Do we know if any a9lh users were affected by this?

 

[Ruryk]

Hey guys, new here but I've been reading this post for some time. Just now took the courage to turn my O3DS on and see if I was banned or not, and kinda glad I'm not (for now). So, my situation is as follows:

- Bought it used, some eight months ago, with RXTools and updated to arm9loaderhax and luma when the 11.3 came out and just couldn't play anymore;
- Updated to 11.4 some two weeks ago, but didn't download any game in the last two months or so;
- Opened lots of homebrew from the home menu, played pokemon moon before the release (didn't went online though), edited pokemons through homebrew, edited the themes, downloaded a lot of games with that you-know-which-store, used save managers, but never cheated online or dumped games;
- Played only MK7 (last time was some three months ago) and pokemon games online;
- Found out I was sending data through Spotpass, but turned it off as soon as I saw it;
- Just in case, I decided to enter online through my pokemon moon cartridge and not from the home menu; after that, went to see my friends list and was ok;
- Because of academic obligations, it was about five days since I last turned it on.

My question is: there was some case in which someone went online, found it wasn't banned and, later, going again, was banned? Kinda thinking if I could have just sent something like a "Hi, please ban me!" message to Nintendo going online, triggering something there. I read people saying it was related to theirs servers, so the "ban list" was already there to begin with, but we never know (and in this situation, less than ever it seems).