Those that decide to hack their systems know that there's always the chance of either bricking, or banning. Many of those that installed CFW or installed unauthorized software onto their Nintendo 3DS systems faced an online ban, back in 2017. With exploits and modchips becoming the talk of the town, and the Switch scene progress in general, there's the growing question of "what about bans?".

It began with known Switch hacker Shiny Quagsire finding out that their Switch had been banned. That alone is shocking, but not only was one of their systems banned, but two. They received error code 2124-4007 on their alleged non-hacked Nintendo Switch.

Huh, 2124-4007 on my not-hacked Switch. Wonder what that's about.

— Shiny Quagsire (@ShinyQuagsire) May 19, 2018

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The screen suggests users to contact Nintendo Support with the error code, which the user in question did. Below, are two alleged chat sessions regarding the error code.

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One of the responses was that the ban would not be lifted, and that the End User License Agreement had been broken. This error code prevents those from accessing the eShop, online gaming, or the friend list and social aspects. Updating or patching one's game still functions, however.

Banned unit count is at 2, current suspicion: libnx errors getting reported.

— Shiny Quagsire (@ShinyQuagsire) May 19, 2018

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ShinyQuagsire then attempted to play Splatoon 2, and successfully voted for a team during the Splatfest, but trying to play a match brought back the same error code once more, stating that online features were restricted by Nintendo. It was then revealed that the "unhacked" Switch had once run the Homebrew Launcher, as well as PegaSwitch, the latter of which is an exploit toolkit that can write custom code to the system.

only correlation between my banned unit and the other in our group is libnx error codes being in the settings log, never did crazy save edits/cheating/weird online stuff, both had client certs dumped but I don't think it's that, they're not rejected

— Shiny Quagsire (@ShinyQuagsire) May 19, 2018

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Later, another Switch hacker, SciresM also spoke up about his own console getting banned. CDN was cited as a potential cause, though ShinyQuagsire wasn't so sure, as the last time they'd done anything regarding that was months ago, meaning Nintendo could have retroactively banned them, or is only going after them now.

This is the console cert I've been using for *all* CDN exploration since June of last year. I'm not surprised in the slightest, tons and tons of invalid requests have been sent from this one. I also updated the console to 5.0.1 when that released.

— Michael (@SciresM) May 22, 2018

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CDN, "Content Distribution Network", as described by Nintendo themselves is

Content delivery network providers enable faster video streaming and support the delivery of content you have requested, e.g. when using Nintendo eShop, by using a system of distributed servers that deliver the content to you, based on your geographic location. We may therefore share your information (including your IP address) with our third party content delivery network providers that provide content delivery network services in connection with Nintendo Account Services, Nintendo Network and the official Nintendo website, some of which may act as third-party data processors only

CDN downloaders had been used to download content directly to a computer from Nintendo services, and currently, this is what is considered to have most likely caused the bans at this time. Shiny Quagsire also knows another user who had a Switch banned, which never used the Homebrew Launcher, but did access and mess with the CDN. At this time, only Switch hackers appear to have been affected, not the average user. If more information becomes available, this post will be updated to include such.

 

[SomeKindOfUsername]

Losing access to any and all online functional on a hacked or otherwise modded console should be expected. Were people expecting differently with the Switch because of past Nintendo systems?

 

[linuxares]

Losing access to any and all online functional on a hacked or otherwise modded console should be expected. Were people expecting differently with the Switch because of past Nintendo systems?

Yes, they were. They weren't here during the PS3 and Xbox 360 banning days apparently.

 

[Deleted User]

Losing access to any and all online functional on a hacked or otherwise modded console should be expected. Were people expecting differently with the Switch because of past Nintendo systems?

Yes, they were. They weren't here during the PS3 and Xbox 360 banning days apparently.

You could play pirated Wii and DS games online. Apparently only those who cheated on Mario Kart got banned.

On the 3DS you got banned from online play if you cheated or had the system connected to the internet while playing leaked games before their official release. You could still connect online to download game and system updates and make purchases from the eShop. Not sure about the Wii U.

Nintendo now seems to be taking Sony's approach to banning hackers.

 

[Lacius]

Not sure about the Wii U.

Wii U bans were limited to online cheating, as far as I'm aware.

 

[Kioku]

You could play pirated Wii and DS games online. Apparently only those who cheated on Mario Kart got banned.

On the 3DS you got banned from online play if you cheated or had the system connected to the internet while playing leaked games before their official release. You could still connect online to download game and system updates and make purchases from the eShop. Not sure about the Wii U.

Nintendo now seems to be taking Sony's approach to banning hackers.

... Because they now have better ways to identify the problem children.. The Wii/DS/3DS had a ton of holes... You could play pirated games, because they looked legit. They weren't bound to an account.

 

[tatumanu]

So basically people got banned on the 3DS because of freeshop? My 3ds is offline ever since the Ban happened.
Yeah this means no freeshop for the Switch which I think its for the best, freeshop is too good to be ignored.

 

[Nevermore]

Well atleast its CDN and not making save dumps thats literally all I do with mine

Agreed. That's all I wanna do, and real time memory editing like with Xenoblade X.

 

[Foxi4]

This shouldn't surprise anyone. You're not entitled to services if you're actively breaking the TOS. Nintendo Network terms of service explicitly state that the service is only available for unmodified systems, that's perfectly fair. I have a golden rule - once I modify my systems, I treat them as effectively offline, not because I don't know how to be stealthy, but because I know that all stealth mechanisms eventually fail and no console that's been hacked and cannot be 100% vanilla'd is ever safe, no matter what you do. Keep your online systems clean, it's not a big ask.

 

[BlueFox gui]

*snip*
Funny because the non piraters got banned first.

Piracy doesnt matter now, everyone will get banned eventually... hopefully the anti-piracy behavior of some devs could stop since it doesnt matter anymore...

nintendo is just dumb, "lets fuck with people who don't pirate things"

 

[DJPlace]

wow nintendo is bring the A-Game now. i may respect them now.

 

[SomeKindOfUsername]

You could play pirated Wii and DS games online. Apparently only those who cheated on Mario Kart got banned.

On the 3DS you got banned from online play if you cheated or had the system connected to the internet while playing leaked games before their official release. You could still connect online to download game and system updates and make purchases from the eShop. Not sure about the Wii U.

Nintendo now seems to be taking Sony's approach to banning hackers.

Thing is, the Switch is neither of those devices. It's pretty foolish to assume it'll be the same situation with the Switch where you'll only be affected if you're careless/obvious. I don't think there's cause for alarm or paranoia just yet but some are feeling a bit too cocky about future hacks.

 

[Alkéryn]

if u ran hombrew of anything thats doing wrong

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



yes

That's breaking their EULA but that's not something moraly wrong so nah

 

[D34DL1N3R]

So basically people got banned on the 3DS because of freeshop?

Basically, no. People were more than likely not banned for that, but it is possible.

 

[TJHeartnote]

So let me get this straight. I should keep my switch stock not invest in a SX till there is a way to hide your play history, errors and such?

 

[linuxares]

So let me get this straight. I should keep my switch stock not invest in a SX till there is a way to hide your play history, errors and such?

No, there is no way to do that at this time. If you wanna break the Tos it's a risk you take

 

[DarkCamui]

This is the reason why my 2.2.0 Switch is still collecting dust. I won't be touching it till Atmosphere is out and in the meantime I can let all the early jumpers be guineapigs.

 

[MasterJ360]

This is the reason why my 2.2.0 Switch is still collecting dust. I won't be touching it till Atmosphere is out and in the meantime I can let all the early jumpers be guineapigs.

That doesn't mean you'll be any more safer when Atmosphere is out. The very same person releasing Atmosphere is one of the 2 banned victims. 2 devs got banned for doing dev level activities

 

[TJHeartnote]

No, there is no way to do that at this time. If you wanna break the Tos it's a risk you take

That's what I mean. I should just wait and keep it stock? Let others make the mistake till a stealth solution is found. Now I'll admit it. I am getting the SX but purely for backups. I rather keep my games in their cases and on the shelves. And well hopefully get the neat extras like better emulation apps and such since Nintendo's not going to do virtual console anymore. Also frankly I rather have a localized Pokébank and saves. But the short message to this is this. WAIT AND SEE! Let someone else be the sacrificial pawn in this match against Nintendo.

 

[Yepi69]

Inb4 people saying that they were banned unjustly.

In my opinion, I'm on Nintendo's side. As much as anyone would love to pick up a Switch and hack it, playing online (especially for people who cheat) can be a problem for people who just bought the damn thing to have fun + they're paying for a monthly subscription.
You *barely* see any hackers on PSN (PS4) because Sony doesn't kid around, it bans you coldly and revokes all of your content including stuff you bought.
The 3DS were baby steps, sure you could get banned but you could still buy and play your bought games + nothing a new Local Friend code seed wouldn't help.

The Switch however is Nintendo's baby, they're gonna have a new subscription service rolling out soon so they can't get their online service up and running with people who don't follow their rules.

 

[#3dBRAT]

So like, if we are disconnected from wifi and are just looking to play offline games/homebrew we are in the clear correct? I'm about to mod my switch and want to be as safe as possible