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 !

 

[Thunder Hawk]

I forgot to mention that I have a LocalFriendCodeSeed_A and not a LocalFriendCodeSeed_B.

 

[Jaxon]

The problem is that many of those polls were counting only those who were banned. That's not a good enough sample size for figuring something out like this. You need a control group who has the application and is not banned to be able to analyze that properly. It's like saying that I have this many bananas, how many bananas do I have? Notice I left out the amount of bananas? Without being able to see how many bananas I truly have, it would be impossible for you to answer said question properly.

Edit: I guess what I mean is, while there are about 95% of banned users who have that, there are likely just as many who aren't banned as well. The proper way to go about analyzing this ban wave is to gather samples from all 3DS users, not just those who have been hit.

That's definitely the missing link- how many were not banned who used it. But it sounds like you have good information on that. So ok.

Any people here who bought legit games and were banned? This one can easily be proven/disproven

 

[Freya]

So anyone agree with me proposing that FreeShop (I give, I'll do it) isn't a cause? Or at least, isn't a direct cause? We have too many users on here both banned and not banned with it installed to say that it's definitely a direct cause.

Likewise, anyone have a counter-argument? It would be great to rule out freeShop as a direct cause.

I agree with you. I don't think, that this ban has something to do with freeShop. The ban don't prevent pirating and even the eShop is accessible.

 

[ShadowEO]

Well tbh a number of people are pointing fingers saying something is causing this, no one knows what is causing it or the main cause of it.
No one knows if spotpass is causing it
No one knows if Nintendo is hacking into devices
No one knows if it was the new online policy
No one knows if it activates by using something
No one knows if its from having a certain CFW
No one knows if its from having a certain FW Version
No one knows if anyone is lying
No one knows if Nintendo can track the 3DS, reguardless if its online or not
No one knows if its from being In sleep mode

ffs it could be because I ate a sandwich next to my 3DS, maybe it was because of my battery running out, or a certain flashcard.

Urgh. I'm not going to look on this subject anymore. But here's my best solutions:

Spoiler: Solution 1 For avoiding ban

Theoretically, this could work to bypass the ban once the ban wave(s) are over, and its no longer occurring or being reported. However it will require at least one 3DS, of course you can also use this with a public seed but I'd recommend using a private one since they are banned fast (And are confusing to manage.)

1. Buy a unmodified (Any 3ds model) on 11.3 or below firmware, and do not update, or modify the console, via system transfers or any haxs.
2. When you think the ban wave has stopped, hack the unbanned 3ds and then with Decrypt9Wip or a similar dumping tool, dump your unbanned consoles friendcodeseed_B.bin
3. Apply the new dumped friendcodeseed_B to the banned console
4. (Optional) Sell the 3DS you got the friendcodeseed_B from

Spoiler: Solution 2

This is another method I thought of, however due to no one really knowing much about how Nintendo bans friend codes its impossible to determine if this would actually work. However if you want to longshot and try it, go ahead. I can't guarantee it would work though

This currently needs a unbanned 3DS, it will not work with a banned one
1. On the unbanned 3ds, dump your Friendcodeseed_B and back it up
2. Find a public seed, or a private 3ds
3. Like the last time. Get the other friendcodeseed_B you want to replace with your original (current) 3DS System.
4. Inject your 3ds with the new friendcodeseed_B
5. When the ban wave(s) end, apply your original one to your 3ds and it should unban you

Spoiler: Solution 3

This solution would focus more on not using the console, rather than actually unbanning yourself. However I thought it would be good to add anyway
1. Disconnect your 3ds from the internet, or disconnect your router completely for now. (Or leave any area with internet active.)
2. Go into Friends, go into settings, set all options to no.
3. Go into System Settings -> Internet Settings -> Spotpass -> Set all options off
4. Turn off any games that may have "Spotpass" active (That send information to Nintendos servers.)
5. Turn back on your router/3ds internet (optional) Go into eShop, and go into settings, go into settings, turn off "recommend purchases"

If you want to stay completely safe, do not follow step 5, this is if you'd like to use online still with limited access.
6. Log into your PC
7. Go into your router settings
8. Block these DNS's (Will be added soon, they were mentioned on a post here somewhere.)
9. Turn off your 3DS's internet completely by putting it in airplane mode, or on the new 3ds. Use a application that disables wifi completely (Optional)
10. Install httpwn (Optional) this application blocks some bans, and allows players to bypass required updates
11. Never turn on your 3DS (optional) This is if you really feel uncomfortable with Nintendo banning people, just simply do not turn on the device, however it does not guarantee that you will be safe, and to me its just a waste of time you can spend doing this step, as players have reported still being banned.

Of course none of these steps guarantee that you will not be banned. As people have reported even when these settings are off they are still the main cause of the problem

We may not know, but that's what we're doing, we're collecting information and then going through it to see if there are any correlations. In case you haven't been following, this is what we've found so far (NOT what we know, just what we've found based on collected data):


(Copy/Paste time)
Items which haven't seemed to be related to this ban wave so far (along with reasons for my thoughts, but just because these are on this list, does not mean they aren't plausible. If you have a valid argument as to why these shouldn't be ruled out, feel free to contribute!):

• SpotPass Settings: Some who have been banned have this off, some who have not have it turned on.
• Firmware Version (Luma, Nintendo): People on all versions have been hit
• Firmware Type (A9LH, B9S): People using A9LH and B9S have been hit as well.
• StreetPass Settings (I doubt this was a thing to begin with since StreetPass uses local Wireless for communications)
• Homebrew Titles such as FBI, HBL, Luma Updater, Themely, and *thatShop* (We now have more users who are saying they have these titles installed who aren't banned, myself included. Update: Unless someone has a valid counter-argument, freeShop is decidedly ruled out, we have too big of a sample with it installed both banned and not to say that it is a cause).
• FE: Echoes, Pokemon SuMo (Neither of these games were featured as heavily in the collected data as I originally assumed they would, so it's reasonable to believe that these aren't the cause, but once again, speculation)
• Save Modification (Potentially, we've had users report modded save data for games and were not yet banned. May not be a factor, need more samples with modified data to firmly debunk)

Additionally, there is no reason to believe that this ban is temporary. It is true that prior to SuMo, this error code was typically temporary (15 day), but after SuMo, we've seen this error code applied as a perma ban.
(End Copy/Paste)

Once again, PLEASE! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! Keep ban circumvention steps and discussion in it's proper thread. I cannot stress this enough. This thread is probably keeping hundreds of people from creating their own threads about the banwave, it is also starting to gain some information and traction, please don't make the mods close this thread by being off topic. I really shouldn't have to say this every 10 pages, but lo and behold, I have.

 

[LunarXDiviner]

No one knows if Nintendo is hacking into devices

They don't have to hack, they already have access to it voluntarily. It's all there in the fine print, they can see certain info. We know they can see the activity logs. Though whether they are using them or not is another story.

Also still think it might be one of multiple things they're looking at- like people may be banned for different reasons.

 

[Zekamon]

Any people here who bought legit games and were banned? This one can easily be proven/disproven

I hate to say these words again but my friend has legit DLC and Games besides pirated ones but he got banned.

 

[ShadowEO]

They don't have to hack, they already have access to it voluntarily. It's all there in the fine print, they can see certain info. We know they can see the activity logs. Though whether they are using them or not is another story.

Also still think it might be one of multiple things they're looking at- like people may be banned for different reasons.

This is a very possible idea as well. It could be very possible that this was a scheduled ban wave with multiple reasons for the ban. Since we aren't Nintendo, we can't know for sure and can't really make assumptions as to their thought process in the matter.

 

[marbles73]

I have used the eshop to download stuff as well.

 

[Zekamon]

So what are your thoughts guys? Do you think this will end soon[emoji769] or will this be a permanent banwave?

 

[suzsuzuki]

There's no reason to believe that anymore. (I guess I should add this to the list copy/paste) but prior to the SuMo bans, they were indeed typically temporary. But the SuMo bans brought a permanent use of this code.

AFAIK pokemon ban has 2 error codes, 0102 and other one

 

[ShadowEO]

AFAIK pokemon ban has 2 error codes, 0102 and other one

I know, but that post (and it's accompanying quote) was specifically referring to 002-0102, not 022-2802. Additionally, not everyone was hit with both during that wave, some got hit with one, some got hit with the other. I for one, got both, while some others I saw around the internet only got 0102 (console ban), others got 2802 (NNID ban).

Edit: It's about time I jumped into the Discord that @nitroBW spoke of.. *installs Discord*

 

[Jaxon]

Wouldn't be surprised if it was multiple reasons. Which is why it's near impossible to narrow it down. Not saying this is why, but just as an example- suppose they whitelist people who are spending money in the eShop on the premise they believe anyone with CFW would be pirating, however, if a whitelisted person was playing online with modified save, that puts them back in the crosshairs. Again, just as an example.

Maybe it's the activity log after all, but they randomly chose a sample of CFW users... or, they checked during a specific date range in the activity log, and if you didn't have anything showing between that date range that would be flagged like FBI or what have you, then you weren't banned.

 

[Pandaxclone2]

The problem is that many of those polls were counting only those who were banned. That's not a good enough sample size for figuring something out like this. You need a control group who has the application and is not banned to be able to analyze that properly. It's like saying that I have this many bananas, how many bananas do I have? Notice I left out the amount of bananas? Without being able to see how many bananas I truly have, it would be impossible for you to answer said question properly.

Edit: I guess what I mean is, while there are about 95% of banned users who have that, there are likely just as many who aren't banned as well. The proper way to go about analyzing this ban wave is to gather samples from all 3DS users, not just those who have been hit.

Except there's another problem with this; counting your chickens before they hatch. The way Nintendo is applying these bans, it leaves us uncertain of whether or not we've been flagged until it's too late. If we provide information stating we haven't been banned then get banned later and then report otherwise, we've input false information which will still get us nowhere. The only people whom we can properly collect information from are those who have already been banned since short of simple misinformation, they don't have false info to give.

 

[Zekamon]

Maybe it's the activity log after all, but they randomly chose a sample of CFW users... or, they checked during a specific date range in the activity log, and if you didn't have anything showing between that date range that would be flagged like FBI or what have you, then you weren't banned.

That could be a possibilty if I think about it. Maybe they ARE banning for Echoes after all. They could be looking for FBI for freeShop so they think that somebody installed Echoes non-legit. If somebody didn't use FBI or freeShop then they would think that the user couldn't pirate Echoes.

 

[Zekamon]

It's about time I jumped into the Discord that @nitroBW spoke of.. *installs Discord*

Sadly I can't join for now until I have fast enough internet to install Discord on my phone.

 

[ShadowEO]

Except there's another problem with this; counting your chickens before they hatch. The way Nintendo is applying these bans, it leaves us uncertain of whether or not we've been flagged until it's too late. If we provide information stating we haven't been banned then get banned later and then report otherwise, we've input false information which will still get us nowhere. The only people whom we can properly collect information from are those who have already been banned since short of simple misinformation, they don't have false info to give.

I would agree, but in not updating information, it would be lazy. In cases like this, should you give information and the situation change, do what most of us are doing, UPDATE IT. The only problem is underestimating the laziness of the average human being.

 

[marbles73]

Except there's another problem with this; counting your chickens before they hatch. The way Nintendo is applying these bans, it leaves us uncertain of whether or not we've been flagged until it's too late. If we provide information stating we haven't been banned then get banned later and then report otherwise, we've input false information which will still get us nowhere. The only people whom we can properly collect information from are those who have already been banned since short of simple misinformation, they don't have false info to give.

It's true, It's difficult to properly collect data if we don't know the cause for the lack of bans for certain users. It could be that they didn't detect it, they didn't meet the right amount of criteria, they're further down on the list, the system didn't check in at the right time period and more. We don't really know but it's the best we can do right now.

 

[Pandaxclone2]

I would agree, but in not updating information, it would be lazy. In cases like this, should you give information and the situation change, do what most of us are doing, UPDATE IT. The only problem is underestimating the laziness of the average human being.

It's not just that. Even handwaving human laziness, the way we collect information right now wouldn't allow for a user to update their information (unless we're not simply going by a numbers game and everyone who inputs their results gets given a unique ticket/code to re-input their data in the event of a ban.) Either way, the information would have to be collected another way than by a simple poll.

 

[ItShoto]

Is Nintendo perhaps milking the 3DS while it lasts? The only way to get the seed is to buy another 3DS, which means more money for Ninty. If they keep banning us, it forces people to run out and buy more systems. That's a win for them.

 

[KipMudz]

I'm currently conducting an experiment with my o3DS with formatted SysNAND and H&S app restored. On its previous NAND, I've done all possible stuff that can be done on a CFW'ed unit like CIA installation, ROM hacks, save conversion, FreeShop access, etc. A NNID was also linked on its previous NAND. Before the ban wave started, this unit is turned off because I'm busy with my n3DS (not connected to the hotspot since the password change few weeks ago) and PC.

With this experiment, I want to see if Ninty is now able to detect CFW installation even without unauthorized CIAs and tampered saves are installed on this unit.

All forms of telemetry are enabled in order to expose this unit to all possible causes of ban.

Information about my experimental o3DS:

Status:
Not yet banned

System:
Old 3DS from 2012

Current firmware version:
11.4.0-34U SysNAND only

Current CFW installed:
Luma 3DS 7.0.5 on A9LH

CFW installation history:
-Downgraded SysNAND to 9.2 for MenuHax+RXTools
-Installed A9LH before Plailect's guide was made and used Cakes then AuReiNAND/Luma
-Installed B9S+Luma 3DS 7.1 last week
-Reflashed a formatted 9.2 backup with A9LHv1 installed via hardmod beacuse I flashed my n3DS backup by mistake

Homebrew apps installed:
None

Game backups installed:
None

Games tested:
-MK7 (Cartridge)
-Pokemon Moon (Cartridge)
-Mii Plaza

Online activities performed (in chronological order):
-Updated the flashed 9.2 backup to 11.4 using System Settings
-Linked a newly created NNID on this unit
-Downloaded the update files for MK7, Pokemon Moon and Mii Plaza on eShop
-Had two rounds of race in MK7
-4 wonder trades on Pokemoon
-Downloaded one of free games in Mii Plaza
-I don't know if it counts but I left the unit on sleep mode with spotpass enabled before I slept
-When I woke up, I checked the friends list and can still connect online
-Another 3 wonder trades on Pokemoon

15 hours (at the time of this writing) later and still not yet banned. I will perform the same experiment on my n3DS after 24 hours.