Shadow bans often occur on social media. If you don’t follow the rules of a platform like Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, they can limit your reach. So, the next time you post a picture, fewer people will see it and engage with it.
But what about gaming?
Many gamers have accused Valorant, Warzone, and CS: GO of shadowbanning their users. Nothing happens to your account, yet some features are limited, restricted, or prohibited. Then, the game itself decides whether to normalize your account or ban it completely.
Another case of shadowbanning is when you constantly get matched up with people using aimbots, hacks, or cheats. It seems like in every match you queue, there’s a hacker. And it doesn’t make sense why.
Why do games have shadowbans?
If you’ve ever been in a Call of Duty lobby, you’ve probably heard more profanities in five minutes than some people have in their entire lives. People often use games as their outlet, but that can go too far.
Shadowbans exist to level the playing field between toxic people and others who genuinely want to enjoy the game.
When someone continuously swears, bullies, or talks trash to others, they get reported. But game developers introduced a special trial period through a shadowban before deleting their accounts. The reported user will be under review, and somebody will track their account to see traces of suspicious behavior.
The same goes for people who use cheats, hacks, and aimbots. No one likes cheaters, yet they always want to ruin the experience of others. They want to be the best in the game, and they’ll use any means necessary. If an enemy quick-scopes your entire team, they’re either very good or have a cheat enabled. Game developers shadowban the suspicious account to see what’s really going on.
Shadowbanned accounts match up together. That’s a genius way to get rid of hackers and toxic players. Instead of letting them ruin everyone else’s experience, just let them play against each other. Nothing angers a hacker more than another hacker who’s better than them. Eventually, they get permanently or temporarily suspended.
How do you get a shadowban?
The first way to get shadowbanned is if multiple people report you in a short period. Your account gets spammed with reports, and the system automatically flags your account as suspicious.
Another way is getting too many kills. This is quite obvious in Warzone 2, especially if you consistently get over 10 kills. That used to be the case in PUBG, Fortnite, and similar Battle Royale games. When it comes to FPS games like CS: GO and Valorant, shadowbans happen if you’re smurfing.
Smurfing is creating new accounts and starting from scratch when you’re a skilled player. The same thing is true about sandbagging. Purposefully keeping your rank low and winning in casual matches is also a great way to get reported for hacks and cheats.
Of course, there’s being an actual cheater. This is self-explanatory. Any time you use third-party software to help you win in a game, you’re breaking the rules and putting your account at risk.
Last, but not least, there’s using a VPN to change your location. Gamers are quite tech-savvy, and you might use a VPN to stream Netflix shows from another country. But if you log into the game with a different IP every time, the algorithm will think you’re multi-accounting. That’s when two or more people use the same account to increase rank or earn more rewards.
Sure, VPN security is essential when browsing the web. But you should be careful when playing multiplayer games. Make sure you’re connected to the same server every time before you log in.
How to know you’re shadowbanned?
A regular ban is simple. There’s a large notification telling you which rules you’ve broken and that you must wait a month to play again. But a shadowban is completely different. There are no notifications. Everything’s happening in secret, from the shadows.
One of the simplest ways to detect a shadowban is high ping. If you’ve never had ping issues and suddenly play matches where you can’t get anything less than 100ms, your account is probably at risk. That’s because those servers are further away, and it takes longer for the data to travel back and forth. After you finish a match with high ping, check your connection. Or try another multiplayer game and see whether you experience the same issue.
Shadowbanned servers often have high queue times. If it usually takes you a few seconds to join a match, and suddenly the time increases to a few minutes, you’ve probably done something wrong. It takes a while for multiple shadowbanned people to get together.
Frequently getting disconnected is another sign. Especially if you’ve never had that issue before, combine some of these signs with always playing against cheaters and hackers, and you’ve hit all the marks.
How to lift a shadowban?
Time heals all wounds. The same thing’s true about shadowbans. Usually, it takes a week, up to ten days, for your account to return to normal. In some games, the recovery time is a month, depending on the severity of the violation.
If more time passes and you still run into issues, it’s best to use a ban appeal system. Contact customer support and let them check your account. They will tell you if you’ve done something wrong, lift your ban, and get you back in the game quickly.
Follow the rules of your game, don’t be toxic, and have fun!
