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 !

 

[SPoudaios]

If you got banned or you used a public localfriendseed that was banned then you can't use online play. You have to inject one that isn't banned.

and that's what I've done. But while the other 3ds still connects without any problem I get a different error code on mine. Why?

 

[Berkstarboy]

I have a werid tactic. Until the ban wave stops, back up your unbanned original freindcodeseed, then use a public one. Once it is basically stopped just get your own one and use that, instead of having to beg people for one.

 

[FateForWindows]

I have a werid tactic. Until the ban wave stops, back up your unbanned original freindcodeseed, then use a public one. Once it is basically stopped just get your own one and use that, instead of having to beg people for one.

Ffs it stopped months ago.

 

[Skylinedeadline]

I'm honestly amazed this thread is still alive. Far too lazy to go through 500+ pages though, was there even a consensus on what may have caused the bans?

 

[lone_wolf323]

I'm honestly amazed this thread is still alive. Far too lazy to go through 500+ pages though, was there even a consensus on what may have caused the bans?

Not that I've seen. Mostly rabble thats paranoid the fuck out of most people now.

 

[Platinum Lucario]

I just had a thought, what if someone with a public seed gets the NNID ban, would all consoles that share the public seed would get NNID banned, or just one?

It would be just one console getting banned. The NNID and DeviceID ban (aka hyperban) is only applied to one DeviceID. Because it targets the DeviceID, the Local Friend Code SEED certificate is unable to be verified, resulting in error code 002-0121.

So even if the console that had the shared certificate got hyperbanned, all the other consoles that have the same shared certificate as that 3DS console will not be banned, unless Nintendo Network Administrators ban that particular certificate, resulting in error code 002-0102.

So unless there are people sharing their DeviceIDs and spoofing them on multiple 3DS consoles, multiple consoles can't be hyperbanned at the same time.

 

[Bluespheal]

It would be just one console getting banned. The NNID and DeviceID ban (aka hyperban) is only applied to one DeviceID. Because it targets the DeviceID, the Local Friend Code SEED certificate is unable to be verified, resulting in error code 002-0121.

So even if the console that had the shared certificate got hyperbanned, all the other consoles that have the same shared certificate as that 3DS console will not be banned, unless Nintendo Network Administrators ban that particular certificate, resulting in error code 002-0102.

So unless there are people sharing their DeviceIDs and spoofing them on multiple 3DS consoles, multiple consoles can't be hyperbanned at the same time.

Thanks for the response, that's a relief, with the upcoming USUM leaks there's bound to be some hyperbans, I wouldn't like to be caught in the crossfire

 

[RedBlueGreen]

Ffs it stopped months ago.

We could see another one when Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon come out.

 

[soprano1]

We could see another one when Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon come out.

We WILL see one, I bet.

 

[vinstage]

We could see another one when Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon come out.

Yeah, most speculated it was after big game releases.

 

[enhasa]

I'm honestly amazed this thread is still alive. Far too lazy to go through 500+ pages though, was there even a consensus on what may have caused the bans?

Save editing certain games most likely.

 

[Platinum Lucario]

We could see another one when Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon come out.

Or we might also see a huge banwave right after Miiverse's closure? But I can definitely see one happening for US/UM though.

 

[bobmcjr]

I booted up my old 3DS recently and upgraded to B9, mostly to see if I was banned. Despite me running many unofficial and out of region titles back in the Gateway 3DS days, I just played a round of Mario Kart 7 online without issue. I did put Pokemon X on it at one point with a pre-official Hoopa and Volcanian save, although I never went online with any Pokemon game. This console was linked to NNID initially, but then hard unlinked(?) after downgrading to 4.5.0 for Gateway.

 

[RedBlueGreen]

Save editing certain games most likely.

I'm sure it isn't that. Lots of people who've edited saves haven't been banned. It's most likely to do with playing a first party Nintendo game before release (i.e playing Sun and Moon early or FE Echoes). We know they ban for this, and both previous ban waves (besides the Sky3DS same header bans) have happened after those two games launched.

 

[Inkadinkadoo]

If i use JKSM to transfer a save from a digital cia version of pokemon moon to a cart version, then play that cart in a stock legit never-been-hacked 3ds, could that get the clean 3ds banned?

 

[SomeKindOfUsername]

Not sure if anyone could definitively answer that. Unless there's some metadata in the save regarding some 3DS unit specific ID then it's unlikely. If the save has been edited in any way then that may increase the chance of a ban, but you'll receive plenty of anecdotal evidence of people who have hacked in unrealistic numbers of legendaries and gotten away with it.

Edit: For the record, the leaked CIA itself isn't what caused the bans, it was going online before it released. If you have a save file that you started before it's official release it's unlikely to have saved a "first played" date and really unlikely Nintendo checks for that.

 

[Windylacine]

If i use JKSM to transfer a save from a digital cia version of pokemon moon to a cart version, then play that cart in a stock legit never-been-hacked 3ds, could that get the clean 3ds banned?

No you won't get banned for injecting a save file of an unreleased game, I injected my illegal Pokemon moon copy from Lurantis to my phyiscal copy on its release day and haven't gotten banned for that.

 

[Inkadinkadoo]

No you won't get banned for injecting a save file of an unreleased game, I injected my illegal Pokemon moon copy from Lurantis to my phyiscal copy on its release day and haven't gotten banned for that.

No my digital copy wasnt downloaded before it was released, and i have not made any edits to the save at all, it is completely legit aside from the fact i transferred it to the cartridge from a digital cia version. The system its om is banned, so i got a new 2dsxl (speakers suck) to be totally legit and i have the hacked one for hacked things.

 

[Cyber Akuma]

So, skimming through several pages of the replies, from what I have gathered:

There hasen't really been another ban "wave" since the initial one that happened nearly half a year ago.

You can still get banned if you play a game before release date, or cheat/hack in many cases.

And individual bans still do happen now and then for those with hacked systems even if they aren't cheating/hacking their save or playing games before release.

And apparently, some reports of using freeshop-downloaded CIAs causing bans? Not sure if there is much to go on on that one. That worries me a little, namely if other similar stuff such as FunKey would also be effected. Never used any such apps, but I was planning to try to use FunKey soon.... any reports of people who installed a CIA downloaded from FunKey being banned? From what I understand it's supposed to provide a "clean" CIA?

So... is that about the gist of the last 500 or so pages in regards to bans?

Decided to look back at this whole ban mess since I recently was doing a lot of work on my 3DS, and it occured to me to check if there was still much danger of being banned even if I don't break release dates or cheat. Though to be fair, most of the "work" I did likely just feels more involved to me than it really was for the 3DS itself. IIRC about the worst I did was set the RTC using GodMode9 from being set to 2002 for some reason to the current date so it would match the clock the system itself displays... don't think Nintendo actually bothers to check if your RTC changed right? Other than that all I did was just installe newer versions of some .3dsx or .firm format homebrew on my SD card and was using Decrypt9WIP to dump backups and decrypt CIAs..... don't think that touched anything on my 3DS itself and I know no activity done under a .firm file is detectable... (Not sure about any activity done under a .3dsx homebrew app though, even if I disguised it under Download Play... would it still look like I am using Downplay Play after I use that to launch Homebrew Launcher... and then a homebrew app UNDER said Homebrew Launcher?)

 

[RedBlueGreen]

I doubt the people who were banned for "cheating" were actually banned for cheating. They could've gone online with some sort of cheat

I doubt people are banned just for having CFW either. A lot of people who just have CFW haven't been banned.

A lot of people who use FreeShop weren't banned either.

Odds are they went online with a game before the release date but don't want to admit it.

Why do I say that: We got a ban wave when Sun and Moon launched and the people who got banned were only people who went online with the game before release. It had a version of 0 probably because it was intended for review purposes and someone dumped it and converted it to a *.cia.

Then we get another banwave right after FE Echoes comes out. A lot of people weren't banned so it clearly wasn't intended to ban people with CFWs or cheat users and save modders. So odds are people played FE Echoes early or some sort of other game early.