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 !

 

[KytuzuEX]

In the 3ds cfw guide I followed some time ago it was stated words to the effect of "The exploit runs before anything else and for Nintendo to ban, they would have to do it console by console" made it sound like the a9lh exploit was undetectable and now look. People shouldn't write crap that's not true, now thousands are banned.

I'm not yet banned but haven't turned on the 3ds since the ban wave news hit.
Hoping to be patient and install some kind of fix.

Unfortunately, it doesn't matter. People that are saying that got banned at a different day, it is because they didn't want to turn on their 3DSes since the May 24th banwave.

All the bans or not, were made at the night of May 24 between the morning of May 25.

 

[nitroBW]

In the 3ds cfw guide I followed some time ago it was stated words to the effect of "The exploit runs before anything else and for Nintendo to ban, they would have to do it console by console" made it sound like the a9lh exploit was undetectable and now look. People shouldn't write crap that's not true, now thousands are banned.

I'm not yet banned but haven't turned on the 3ds since the ban wave news hit.
Hoping to be patient and install some kind of fix.

Consoles weren't banned for having A9LH (or similar) installed, smartass. They were banned for having installed unauthorized software (like FBI, HBL or freeShop).

Nintendo can't detect the methods for running CFW or CFW itself, but they can see whether a user has installed or played illegitimate titles, once the user goes online.

 

[Shinusagi]

I don't get it? OK, dude. Whatever you say. Even by your own admission there's a massive difference between not knowing anything and having pretty solid leads about the reason behind the bans. If you have any actual, concrete proof that people with 100% "clean" systems got banned, then what are you waiting for to show it?

As for why or if you should unban yourself... There are ways to do it. That's what the dude claim there weren't. Whether you want to do it or not is irrelevant, since this stuff doesn't revolve around you.

But, hey, I don't get it, right? Sure.

LOL, no, you didn't get it, I don't even know what the hell you are answering, I don't mean to teach you how to read but only for the record I want to clarify I never said I have proof that people with 100% clean systems got banned.

EDIT:

Consoles weren't banned for having A9LH (or similar) installed, smartass. They were banned for having installed unauthorized software (like FBI, HBL or freeShop).

Nintendo can't detect the methods for running CFW or CFW itself, but they can see whether a user has installed or played illegitimate titles, once the user goes online.

Exactly that is what I am talking about, not CFW itself but the apps run on them, still how can we run them without letting Nintendo know when we go online if there is some log they can check or a way to block it.
I know people who supposedly played only legit CIAs and they got banned, so... I could be baned again simply by using NTR...
Until there is some "fix" or way to avoid Nintendo checks while going online (not playing pirated games online obviously) I won't unban my 3DS since I see it pointless wheter or not the seed is public or from my other system.

 

[IcyFire]

Do you have Streetpass games you didn't pay for? Did you find at any point recently they were uninstalled?

Haven't noticed any uninstalled games. Streetpass game yes, super mario 3D land with streetpass activated. Must have been the one that got me.

What is going on if I use ninid that was linked with banned 3ds to link with another unbanned 3ds.
Second question if banned 3ds has remaining money in eshop, how to transfer money to another unbanned 3ds.

You can use the nnid of the banned 3DS normally on a new unbanned 3DS(as long as they didnt ban the nnid like in Sun/Moon ban). This recent ban was only for online multiplayer, nnid was fine and so was eshop. Now for your 2nd question, again if the nnid was banned then your money is gone I think. If it's just an online multiplayer ban then your account can still be used on another 3DS. I'm not sure if Nintendo allows fund transfer to a different nnid, that's something you need to ask Nintendo in my opinion.

 

[Osakasan]

Has anyone who unbanned themselves using a fresh LFCS_B (either public or private) been banned again since the banwave started?

I've been checking regularly and no, i haven't. I'm being cautious though

 

[botas]

I'm still not banned!
I hope they don't ban me because beibg locked out of the 3DS most fun feature must be horrible...

I think I can help some of you! I was discussing with it with my girlfriend's brother who got banned and he says that maybe turning off Spotpass triggers the ban... like a reverse trap! Be careful! And good luck!

 

[TimX24968B]

Someone needs to evaluate the kind of traffic that the 3DS is sending to their servers through connecting it to a PC and intercepting packets. Possibly see what kind of data nintendo is using to ban 3dses. I said it a couple pages back but got no followup.

 

[Helix Fossil]

Still not banned somehow. I have all the system SpotPass stuff turned off and I've had it off for quite a long time (still on for game updates, though). My system has been hacked to hell and back, and I've had "MOTHER 3" (come on, Reggie!) as my favorite StreetPass/friends list title for the longest time. B9S + Luma on 11.4, hundreds of games and DLC, legitimate and not legitimate, injections and homebrews galore, still nothing. My system was even hit by the SuMo banwave last year, and I had circumvented it back then using an old LFCS I had and by manually unlinking my NNID from the system.

Extremely surprised my system didn't get hit by the new banwave almost immediately.

 

[merptastic]

Luckily, still not banned. I have multiple consoles, which can be broken down into 3 categories:
1. N3DS XL - W/ BS9 & latest Luma. Upgraded from AL9H. Has never had spotpass or streetpass on. All privacy options set to no. Freeshop used and games downloaded, but only legit bought carts played on these.
2. 3DS XL - W/ BS9 & latest Luma. Upgraded from AL9H. Has never had spotpass or streetpast on. All privacy options set to no. Freeshop used and games downloaded. Pirated games have been played, but none online. DLC for Persona Q has been used as well.
3. N3DS XL - W/ BS9 & Latest Luma. ***Transferred from 3DS XL, as this device was on 11.4*** - Noticed too late that after the transfer was done, it had activated showing played titles in my friends list. So I'm going to be actively watching this console and the 3DS XL that I transferred from to see if they are hit. For science!

Edit - I forgot to mention, all devices are on 11.4.

 

[skapista]

Someone needs to evaluate the kind of traffic that the 3DS is sending to their servers through connecting it to a PC and intercepting packets. Possibly see what kind of data nintendo is using to ban 3dses. I said it a couple pages back but got no followup.

AFAIK someone is doing that already, if he did/do find something i doubt he will share it here, since you know, Ninty can read.

 

[DrunkenMonk]

I'm not banned on either of mine, though I've not updated since 11.1 on either until today and they've had spotpass enabled the whole time prior to that.

I've disabled spotpass since that seems to be something people are pointing fingers at but it seems like it was probably something they added in a later firmware, and not banning via logs of games played and whatnot?

No idea really, but either way mine are both not banned and I've used frshop, save editors and street pass has been turned on

 

[MollyChan]

It should, yes, since it transfers the seed too. There was someone claiming it didn't though,

Oh, if this is the case, since my current N3DS had its data transferred from my old O3DS, that means my idea of unbanning myself by using the friendcodeseed on my O3DS would not work...
Unless I could somehow use the friendcodeseed from this N3DS and NOT the transferred one from my O3DS? Also I was kinda wondering, does swapping the friendcodeseed mess up your friend code or your list of friends in any way?

I (thankfully) haven't been banned yet (and I just checked right now). My IRL friend who also has CFW and who installed CFW on to my 3DS a month ago believes the chances of me or him getting banned now are low, though I'm not entirely sure what is making him think that

Yesterday I was online for a while, since I was visiting a different friend's place (though the "CFW friend" was also there), and they wanted to do some Pokemon Sun/Moon battles, AND I had to go on the eshop because I hadn't installed the Pokemon Moon v1.2 update, so...

Still kinda wondering if this ban affects System Updates, Pokemon Mystery Gifts, and the Theme Shop

 

[Platinum Lucario]

Hang on, I just remembered something. I actually never used MSET on my Aqua Blue 3DS. I was probably thinking of my Cosmos Black 3DS (which I did use the MSET exploit on, but I never transferred to any other system).

From what I can remember, my Aqua Blue 3DS always remained non-hacked, same with the white New 3DS that I transferred to using system transfer.

So from what I can see, Nintendo has made a mistake with my 3DS console, but they won't admit it. They think their flagging system is perfect, but it's not, it seems to have it's flaws.

It probably flagged my Ambassador titles, thinking they were illegitimately obtained, but they're legit titles that were transferred from my Aqua Blue 3DS system, which was an Ambassador system.

I feel like... Nintendo has really shattered me, and really has put the blame on me for something I didn't even do with my Aqua Blue 3DS or even the white New 3DS.

If they don't fix the problem and address the issue, I'm never going to do business with Nintendo again

 

[nitroBW]

Oh, if this is the case, since my current N3DS had its data transferred from my old O3DS, that means my idea of unbanning myself by using the friendcodeseed on my O3DS would not work...
Unless I could somehow use the friendcodeseed from this N3DS and NOT the transferred one from my O3DS? Also I was kinda wondering, does swapping the friendcodeseed mess up your friend code or your list of friends in any way?

I (thankfully) haven't been banned yet (and I just checked right now). My IRL friend who also has CFW and who installed CFW on to my 3DS a month ago believes the chances of me or him getting banned now are low, though I'm not entirely sure what is making him think that

Yesterday I was online for a while, since I was visiting a different friend's place (though the "CFW friend" was also there), and they wanted to do some Pokemon Sun/Moon battles, AND I had to go on the eshop because I hadn't installed the Pokemon Moon v1.2 update, so...

Still kinda wondering if this ban affects System Updates, Pokemon Mystery Gifts, and the Theme Shop

You could backup the N3DS' seed from the movable.sed (afaik) and use it. Swapping the seed won't mess up anything.

 

[Suji_Pyo]

Someone needs to evaluate the kind of traffic that the 3DS is sending to their servers through connecting it to a PC and intercepting packets. Possibly see what kind of data nintendo is using to ban 3dses. I said it a couple pages back but got no followup.

The data is encrypted, the only thing we can get from doing this is obtain the addresses of the servers requesting the data... then we can block those servers using dns or in our routers.

 

[Loko4]

With a 3DS 002-0102 ban is possible to play multiplayer local like mario kart or pokemon?

 

[nitroBW]

Someone needs to evaluate the kind of traffic that the 3DS is sending to their servers through connecting it to a PC and intercepting packets. Possibly see what kind of data nintendo is using to ban 3dses. I said it a couple pages back but got no followup.

Just like Suji_Pyo said, the files are encrypted, but we already know which domains to block in order to stop them from collecting data (based on what people said who sniffed the packages) and still use online fuctions, by not just turning wifi off.

With a 3DS 002-0102 ban is possible to play multiplayer local like mario kart or pokemon?

Yes, local multiplayer still works.

 

[Deleted User]

With a 3DS 002-0102 ban is possible to play multiplayer local like mario kart or pokemon?

Only online services are restricted, local play is unaffected

 

[Windylacine]

With a 3DS 002-0102 ban is possible to play multiplayer local like mario kart or pokemon?

banned from online play doesn't affect local play.

 

[MollyChan]

You could backup the N3DS' seed from the movable.sed (afaik) and use it. Swapping the seed won't mess up anything.

Hmm, so I can still get the original seed the N3DS had? I guess that would actually be preferable to taking it from my O3DS since the charger port on it is broken so whatever charge is left on the battery is all I got

I have a feeling that I might not be flagged as "to be banned" yet since I HAVEN'T been banned yet, so I kinda hope I can system restore + NAND backup restore to go back to OFW before it happens as soon as possible...
This situation is really upsetting me... Especially since, if I had made one decision differently last month, I wouldn't be in this mess, so I want to get OUT of this mess as soon as possible