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 !

 

[Captain_N]

anyone got banned for using httppwn? nintendo could be checking for app versions when online connections are attempted. if you are using a lower version by bypassing their check it might be what bans you. my 3ds has not been on since 2 weeks so right now im safe. i have 11.3 U sysnand and no cfw. just steel hax and oot hax. i use httpwn to get online and play monster hunter generations.

 

[suzsuzuki]

Method 2 for me worked flawlessly

https://gbatemp.net/threads/all-3-methods-to-get-unbanned-from-recent-ban-wave.450679/

 

[nitroBW]

Seriously, if you voted "I'm using Luma3DS 6.6 or lower and DID get banned." in my Poll, PLEASE TELL US WHETHER YOU HAVE BEEN CHEATING ONLINE AND/ OR PLAYED A GAME/ DLC BEFORE ITS RELEASE AND WHICH LUMA VERSION YOU ARE ON EXACTLY, thanks

 

[Zalexard]

I'll elaborate here so more people can understand how unbanning your system this time around works and why you shouldn't do it right away. The primary problem with both methods is that you either need a public file called localfriendcodeseed_b that isn't banned or a CFW unbanned 3DS. Regardless, you need a file obtained from an unbanned console, and you risk the possibility of being banned once again. I personally have a private lfcs_b, but I won't share it because the more people using it, the more likely it is to get banned.

If you do manage to get your hands on a lfcs_b that isn't banned or a CFW 3DS to system transfer to, please, please, don't do so right away, because you might get banned. No one knows exactly what Nintendo is using to detect CFW so the risk is not worth it.

That being said, your NNID isn't banned, so unlike us bastards that got banned last year, are still able to access the Poke Bank after removing the 002 code from your system. So yes, your Pokemon are recoverable, but it's going to be hard to do so and I do not recommend doing it until we know what to do to avoid the bans.

I will link you the tutorial to unban yourself, but once again, proceed with caution. http://gbatemp.net/threads/all-3-methods-to-get-unbanned-from-recent-ban-wave.450679/

Method 1 is what you are going for.

@Veranek thanks for the heads up. Allow me to ask something else related to this, say, since my NNID isn't banned, and since this seems to be a console ban, if I was to buy another system with OFW only, and link my NNID to it, I'd be able to access the content apps use related to my NNID, right? Like, the stuff that is inside my Poke Bank and such?

I'm figuring I might as well just get a new or second hand system eventually and just use it for legit stuff, and leave this one with CFW running. It's not like I play online much, but I kinda hate the fact I can't trade my legit pokemon with my friend over the internet just because I have CFW installed, or FBI or whatever.

 

[Deleted member 350372]

I haven't played online in months but funny my brother just played mk7 the other day and he hasn't been banned, also I dont own any fire emblem games and I uninstalled sun and moon months ago because of space

Yeah... Weird. They can only ban so many CFW 3dses at once. Btw, my main console has B9S & same Luma3ds config 11.4 sysNAND, etc. I guess for those who aren't banned yet, enjoy online gameplay while it lasts...

 

[e398]

Just out of curiosity, how are you guys so sure it's a perma ban?

Of course it is a perma ban that is the point. What would be the point in just scaring us? Will people just undo the hax and start buying games again? No. They are very angry.

 

[lone_wolf323]

Method 2 for me worked flawlessly

https://gbatemp.net/threads/all-3-methods-to-get-unbanned-from-recent-ban-wave.450679/

you do realize that since your 3ds got hit and you unbanned, without a proper knowing of what happened means your 3ds could be open to get hit again.

 

[Deleted User]

anyone got banned for using httppwn? nintendo could be checking for app versions when online connections are attempted. if you are using a lower version by bypassing their check it might be what bans you. my 3ds has not been on since 2 weeks so right now im safe. i have 11.3 U sysnand and no cfw. just steel hax and oot hax. i use httpwn to get online and play monster hunter generations.

I've used it a few weeks ago when I was still on 11.3 with a9lh,then I switched to sighax with 11.4 and stopped using it.Thats a good guess though.

 

[nitroBW]

Of course it is a perma ban that is the point. What would be the point in just scaring us? Will people just undo the hax and start buying games again? No. They are very angry.

Not mentioning that Nintendo seems to have confirmed it more than once

 

[ItsMetaKnight]

Not mentioning that Nintendo seems to have confirmed it more than once

Yes, it was confirmed by multiple nintendo reps on the phone.

 

[Chrushev]

Hmmm interesting.That means two things

A.They are banning people offline since a majority of people got banned yesterday.

B.The banwave is still going and banning people randomly for whoever connects to the Internet.

They blacklist you on their side. Your 3DS is not needed at all to be on or online.

 

[neovari1102]

Someone has voted for "I'm using Luma3DS 6.6 or lower and DID get banned.", was that a mistake? If not, please tell us whether you have cheated online and/ or played games/ dlc before their release, thanks!

I'm on 6.6 with 11.4 and I got banned

 

[blackbubble]

luma 7.0.5 and i'm banned. opened activity log, and had spotpass enabled also updated ofw while on the cfw.

I know there have been many polls now, but I just want to check something:
A user has already been suspecting that later luma releases added some patches that could cause a ban, which Luma 6.6 or lower didn't have, but only few are actually telling the Luma version they are using.

http://www.strawpoll.me/13042357

PLEASE BE HONEST, thank you!

EDIT: Here is the post btw: https://gbatemp.net/posts/7335672/

 

[nitroBW]

I'm on 6.6 with 11.4 and I got banned

Have you cheated online before or have you played a game/ dlc before its actual release?
Also providing a screen of the version number would be nice.

Thanks though

EDIT: Cheating includes genned pokemon

 

[delete12345]

Great... I am outside of US, so I don't know if I should check online services or not...

NA region non-XL N3ds... right now walking on thin ice.

 

[Deleted User]

Just out of curiosity, how are you guys so sure it's a perma ban?

Let me ask you a question. Why would it Not be a permanent ban?

 

[TinchoX]

Great... I am outside of US, so I don't know if I should check online services or not...

I'm in Argentina and I got banned anyways.
So no worries, Nintendo spreads their love worldwide~

 

[Deleted User]

Have you cheated online before or have you played a game/ dlc before its actual release?
Also providing a screen of the version number would be nice.

Thanks though

How would I go about checking my version?

 

[nitroBW]

How would I go about checking my version?

By checking either Luma Configuration Menu or Luma Updater

 

[JustCallMeGio]

IF this is useful in any way.
Having 3Ds on 11.3, Luma CFW 6.6 (Hourly version) a9lh
Using ctr-httpwn to play some games for testing
Played a full For Glory match on Super Smash Bros. Cartridge Retail Game. (And received a Random Replay)
Successfully Updated Super Mario Maker 3ds through Menu (Update now)
Played a whole Course World Recommended level on Super Mario Maker 3Ds.
Note: Super Mario Maker got by not too legal ways.
Entered again to Friend List
No warning or error code appeared
Am I Safe?

-Not Related-
Funny how i have 0 friends connected, meaning that many if not all of them got banhammered (or haven't played in a while)