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 !

 

[Platinum Lucario]

So, Luma Updater / Star Updater wasn't that good ?

It was good in that it could update Luma3DS CFW, but the biggest flaw was the app getting logged by Nintendo's online gaming server, since the app requires internet access in order to download updates.

Welp, i'm heading straight for banland because i left wifi on so it could download.

We're all pretty much going to head into the 3DS voidlands. I'm already in the 3DS voidlands, yet my 3DS was non-hacked, nor did I have any unauthorised content on it, nor did I use any flashcard on it.

 

[Bluespheal]

Could we somehow make it so that every game/app we open and play gets masked as just one app, say, FaceRaiders, so everytime we play anything, nintendo thinks we are crazy for FaceRaiders(or anything for that matter) or does each app needs an unique "mask"? I'm still not sure how apps handle their IDs, etc.

 

[NDTube04]

Hey guys,

There's no more risk to playing online then, right? I can connect my 3DS online and do some battles for VGC on my Pokemon Moon, correct?

 

[Deleted member 420418]

Oh well, if i do get banned then i will probably just find a way round it.

 

[marbles73]

Hey guys,

There's no more risk to playing online then, right? I can connect my 3DS online and do some battles for VGC on my Pokemon Moon, correct?

We don't know 100% but I've been playing online fine so far.

 

[NDTube04]

We don't know 100% but I've been playing online fine so far.

Okay, thank you. I won't use anything un-legit, and re-connect it. Thanks!

BTW community thank you for the 235 responses on the form! This data is very valuable and useful!

 

[Platinum Lucario]

Hey guys,

There's no more risk to playing online then, right? I can connect my 3DS online and do some battles for VGC on my Pokemon Moon, correct?

As long as you're using a legitimate game that is via a game card or was downloaded from Nintendo eShop and haven't run any custom apps while the 3DS is connected to the internet, you'll be okay. But if you have been using custom apps in the past while your 3DS is connected to the internet (Wi-Fi switched on), you're already logged.

 

[nitroBW]

Hey guys,

There's no more risk to playing online then, right? I can connect my 3DS online and do some battles for VGC on my Pokemon Moon, correct?

Short answer: Definitely not.
Long answer: Read Platinum Lucario's write-up about data collection and my post about blocking Nintendo's servers. Even then, we dont know what gets sent during online play.

 

[Deleted User]

na ... Update NAG come before Bann Message

It's not the nag tho, it's an error message when you access the friends list.

 

[NDTube04]

Short answer: Definitely not.
Long answer: Read Platinum Lucario's write-up about data collection and my post about blocking Nintendo's servers. Even then, we dont know what gets sent during online play.

OK, thanks. I'll try to block the servers before I play, and I'll do it on the DS that I don't care if it gets banned.

 

[IdontspeakeEnglish]

It seems to me that the ban were carried out on the basis of data collected before the banwave. Many who were not banned continued to use online, like me, and do not get ban. Others who have not used online these days and include it only now receive ban. I think that they were blocked even then and just did not check it.

 

[Trojaner]

It's not the nag tho, it's an error message when you access the friends list.

update or spoof your FW ... after that you see Banned or Not ... but it say nothing about a Bad Flag for Nine´s Manuall Checks

 

[delete12345]

I'm still at work. Y'all are making me very very afraid...

 

[Elveman]

Okay, I think I've actually worked out how the data of the 3DS systems are being sent to Nintendo.

Here's what I speculate:

• 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.

As long as you stay offline while using custom apps, you'll be fine. Just don't have your 3DS connected to the internet while using custom software, otherwise you're done.

Also, for those who try to bypass the ban using a different console's LocalFriendCodeSeedB. There's a possibility that this will no longer work at some point in the future and attempts to bypass it will automatically get that LocalFriendCodeSeedB getting banned too (due to their ability to view a console's serial number as well). And when that happens, there will be nothing that can be done, except to purchase a brand new 3DS and start over from scratch, if anyone wants to be online.

I really feel bad for all the people in the modding community, who have been banned despite never cheating in online multiplayer or doing anything to disrupt online services. From what I've heard, Sony has been banning people from PSN that have only done the most minuscule of modifications to their console, since the PS3-era. While Microsoft has been banning users even for the slightest modification to their Xbox system, ever since they started Xbox Live.

What are we going to do in a day and age like this? Can we lobby for change to allow modifications? Can we try to take action against them? What can we do?

Is the data being sent once (right after connecting to the Internet) or constantly as you're online?

 

[delete12345]

Constantly. Else, how would the server know when you're offline?

 

[Deleted User]

Funny thing is, probably 70% of people who have a 3DS have it hacked for at least homebrew apps, and still buy games. By banning everyone Nintendo just digged a hole for themselves, since most won't buy another 3DS, and if they can't play online, might as well start pirating games too.

 

[ThommyDude]

Funny thing is, probably 70% of people who have a 3DS have it hacked for at least homebrew apps, and still buy games. By banning everyone Nintendo just digged a hole for themselves, since most won't buy another 3DS, and if they can't play online, might as well start pirating games too.

I agree. I still BUY most of my games, I only really pirate games that I'm not sure about if I like them. Basically, if here is no official demo I'll "demo" the games in the slightly less legal way. But if I do like the game I'll often still buy it at a later date.

 

[Omnifarious]

I'm not sure if anyone figured this out yet but ???????? on my activity log takes the place of the CHMM app. CHMM is even missing from my software library. also i used "that shop" to get dlc for streetpass plaza and for official themes from nintendo and those all disappeared after the ban ( i got dlc from the same method for other games as well and those are still fine). One more thing some people were saying that you cant use the LocalFriendCodeSeed_B from a 3ds that you system transfered from because the one that was on you old 3ds moves to your new one, this statement isn't true ( that's how i unbanned myself).

i've been lurking on this site for 8/9 years and finally decided to register

 

[jcd89]

Just checked now, not banned, was able to play a round of Stell Diver (legally purchased), bad news is URL filter in my router is not working - it just shows blocked URLs in settings, but actually allows connections to them, judging by tracert.

 

[IdontspeakeEnglish]

Just checked now, not banned, was able to play a round of Stell Diver (legally purchased), bad news is URL filter in my router is not working - it just shows blocked URLs in settings, but actually allows connections to them, judging by tracert.

What url were you trying to block?