How Does Niantic’s ‘Pokémon GO’ Banning System Work?

Niantic has been keeping an eye on “Pokémon GO” cheaters for a long time now. In fact, the developer has been banning players with malicious activities even shortly after the game’s release back in July 2016. Interestingly, Niantic felt the need to explain how its banning system for the augmented reality mobile game works this week.

Niantic just published a detailed explanation about its “Three-Strike Discipline Policy,” which is the company’s formal way of calling its anti-cheat system. As what its name implies, the system takes notice of an account’s malicious activities for three times before officially banning that account for good.

On the first strike, cheaters will receive a warning message informing players that the system has detected cheating on their account. They may still play the game, but the gameplay experience will be degraded in some form. For example, they may be unable to encounter rare Pokémon in the wild. They may also be excluded from receiving new EX Raid Passes. The strike will last for about seven days.

On the second strike, the account in question will be suspended. This means the player will temporarily lose access to his or her “Pokémon GO” account. Any attempt to log in will only be met with a message saying the account is suspended. There will be no means to bypass this message. The player will have to wait for up to 30 days before account access is restored.

On the third strike, this is when cheaters will be forced to say goodbye to their accounts and the “Pokémon GO” experience. The moment the system detects a third offense, their access will automatically be terminated. The account will also be permanently banned, so there will be no way to restore it.

For those who are wondering what sort of activities are worth a strike, TechCrunch says they include spoofing or the act of making the AR game think one is at a certain location even though that’s not the case in reality and using modified “Pokémon GO” accounts or bots to gain access to the game’s backend.

Niantic has ensured that players who may have been wrongfully accused of cheating will have a chance to voice out their side. The policy has a provision for players to appeal the termination of their account. The developer has even published a step-by-step guide on how to submit a ban appeal.

“At Niantic, we strive to create a friendly and fair gameplay experience for all players. As part of that commitment, we enforce a three-strike policy against cheating. This policy may provide offenders with a series of disciplinary actions that gradually increase in severity and provide multiple opportunities to change their behavior. If offenders reform their ways, they are welcomed back into the game,” Niantic said.