Bungie Game Account Restrictions and Banning Policies – Bungie Account, Safety, and Security Center

Players who violate the Code of Conduct or license agreement that governs our games may be restricted or banned from some or all content or activities within them.

Please see below for more information on our Game Account Restrictions and Banning Policies.

Why Was I Banned?

If a player receives a message that references an account ban, they have permanently lost account access to the game.

If a device ban is issued, no account will be able to access our games on that banned device, regardless of the individual account ban status.
Players who purchase a used console or PC that has previously been device banned will not be able to connect to our games using that console or PC.

IMPORTANT NOTE!

Any ban or restriction for a player determined to be cheating or violating our Code of Conduct may also be applied to a team if the team benefited from a cheating player.

Players should exercise caution when joining teams with unknown players, and should leave the activity if they suspect a player on their team is cheating.

Frequent Quitting or Removal

Players who frequently quit or are removed from matches may receive a restriction or ban.

Third-Party PC Applications

To help ensure that every player will have a fair shot at fun and glory in our games on PC, we resist attempts by third-party applications to insert code into the game clients. This may result in incompatibility between Bungie games and the features of common third-party applications.

For examples of application features that may not be compatible with Destiny 2 on PC, view our Destiny 2 PC and Third-Party Application Feature Compatibility article.

Destiny 2 PC and Third-Party Application Feature Compatibility

Abuse of External Accessibility Tools

Abusing external accessibility tools or aids specifically to gain an advantage over other players will result in escalating actions, including bans.

Players detected using automation to circumvent idle detection or perform automated activities to earn loot may be restricted or banned. Loot includes but is not limited to XP, credits, materials, equipment, or drops (e.g. Exotic class items).

For more information on what qualifies as proper and improper use of these tools, please see the separate Abuse of External Accessibility Tools section.

Win Trading

Bungie defines win trading as intentionally granting other players wins in PvP activities. This includes but is not limited to manipulating matchmaking by any means to force-match with specific opponents or coordinating with opponents to provide uncontested victories.

We target and issue bans to players who are actively engaging in win trading. Our ultimate goal is protecting the competitive environment of PVP by removing the ability to bypass the effort that players put in to earn rewards.

Account Recoveries

Account recoveries are when a player gives someone else access to their platform account and control of their characters. This not only puts your account security at risk (please check our Account Secuity Guide for tips), but it can also have adverse effects on other players’ experiences in competitive matchmade activities and other areas of our games.

Participating as a buyer or seller of account recovery services could result in a ban on your account. While we will only be placing bans or restrictions for certain circumstances, we strongly recommend that you never give your account login information to anyone else.

Not recommended for security purposes, but won’t get your account banned:

"Sometimes I let my kid grind Lost Sectors."
"I let my brother squad up and exfil for a few matches."
"I asked my cousin’s friend to recover my account to check Xur because I was stuck at a wedding in a remote area with no internet access."
"My roommates and I all share an account on the common room’s console."
"I let my friend borrow my account to try out a weapon roll."

What could get your account banned or restricted:

Charging others to recover their account for boosting, earning items, completing content, etc.
Recovering accounts in exchange for anything of value including but not limited to Patreon supporters, subscribers, follows, gift cards, etc.
Paying someone to recover your account to be boosted, have items earned, etc.
Boosting recoveries done for free can also result in bans or restrictions.
Letting a friend recover your account who then boosts or cheats on it without your knowledge or consent.

Code of Conduct or License Agreement Violation

Bungie regards some behavior to be in breach of the Code of Conduct or the license agreement that governs our games, and therefore may be restricted or banned from some or all game content or activities.

This behavior includes, but is not limited to :

Connecting to the Destiny game service with any of the following:
- - Modified game software
  - Modified game assets
  - Modified hardware
  - Modified console firmware
  - Modified operating system files including emulators and virtual machines
Using an external program to modify or analyze the operation of the Destiny game software, such as:
- - Trainers, mods, cheats, aimbots, or autofire.
  - User mode or kernel debuggers
  - Graphics hacks
  - Sending malicious network traffic to Destiny servers or other Destiny players
Using an external program or device to automate gameplay or circumvent idle detection.
Modification or interruption of Destiny network traffic with intent to disrupt the experience of other players or to gain an advantage in the game.
Intentionally deriving gameplay benefit from another user’s behavior in the above categories.
Unauthorized access to Destiny software or downloadable content (game piracy).
Impersonating a Bungie, Microsoft, Sony, Blizzard, Valve, or Activision employee.
Online behaviors disruptive to the experiences of others, such as:
Habitually quitting from a competitive game mode.

Code of Conduct Limited Software License Agreement

PLEASE NOTE!

Bungie reserves the right to permanently ban game accounts or player hardware that have been confirmed as repeat offenders. Activity bans or restrictions may be escalated to device bans after multiple confirmed offenses.

Additionally, Bungie reserves the right to permanently ban game accounts or player hardware for first-time offenses deemed to be egregious violations of our Code of Conduct or Terms of Use.

Restricted Access to Gear, Items, and Content

When losing access to specific activities, players may also lose access to gear and items associated with that activity. This can include, but is not limited to, the following:

Destiny and Destiny 2 purchases, weapons, armor, items, quests, or game modes;
Marathon purchases, weapons, armor, contracts, or game mode.

PLEASE NOTE!

Players may lose access to all gear associated with an activity that they have been banned or restricted from, even if that gear was received outside the activity.

Appealing a Ban

Players who have received a ban or restriction may contact us using the Ban/Restriction Appeal Contact Form. Before submitting a ticket through the contact form, please read all the information on this page.

Permanent account bans and temporary restrictions are only implemented with rigorous checking by trained Bungie employees. The appeals process is designed to help us further refine our tools for detecting and punishing players who violate our Terms of Use and the Code of Conduct.
Restrictions are temporary, and may not be overturned or undone before they expire. Permanent bans are the result of escalating restrictions for the same behavior or for extreme violations of this policy.
Bungie takes actions to preserve the experience of all players, and does not take account restrictions lightly. If actions were taken against your account, then it was with evidence that a reasonable person could conclude that cheating was knowingly taking place.

Players are responsible for their online account, gaming hardware, and any actions taken in our games, and should be careful of who they allow accessing their account.

Ban/Restriction Appeal Contact Form

Why Was I Restricted?

If a player receives a message that references an account, they have temporarily lost access to the activities indicated in the restriction message.

The restriction message may indicate which activities are impacted and the duration of the restriction.
Players who receive an account restruction may resume participation in the restricted activity once the restriction has ended.

IMPORTANT NOTE!

Any ban or restriction for a player determined to be cheating or violating our Code of Conduct may also be applied to a team if the team benefited from a cheating player.

Players should exercise caution when joining teams with unknown players, and should leave the activity if they suspect a player on their team is cheating.

Poor Connection Quality

Bungie will issue restrictions to accounts that have consistent unstable connections when playing our games, as this negatively impacts other players.

For steps on how to stabilize your network and connection quality, please follow our Network Troubleshooting Guide.

Network Troubleshooting Guide

Frequent Quitting or Removal

Players who frequently quit or are removed from our games or game modes may receive a restriction or ban.

Abuse of External Accessibility Tools

Abusing external accessibility tools or aids specifically to gain an advantage over other players will result in escalating actions, including bans.

For more information on what qualifies as proper and improper use of these tools, please see the separate Abuse of External Accessibility Tools section.

Code of Conduct or License Agreement Violation

Connecting to the Bungie game service with any of the following:
- - Modified game software
  - Modified game assets
  - Modified hardware
  - Modified console firmware
  - Modified operating system files including emulators and virtual machines
Using an external program to modify or analyze the operation of the Bungie game software, such as:
- - Trainers, mods, cheats, aimbots, or autofire.
  - User mode or kernel debuggers
  - Graphics hacks
  - Sending malicious network traffic to Destiny servers or other Destiny players
Using an external program or device to automate gameplay or circumvent idle detection.
Modification or interruption of Bungie game network traffic with intent to disrupt the experience of other players or to gain an advantage in the respective game.
Intentionally deriving gameplay benefit from another user’s behavior in the above categories.
Unauthorized access to Bungie game software or downloadable content (game piracy).
Impersonating a Bungie, Sony, Microsoft, Valve, or Epic Games employee or Bungie partner.
Online behaviors disruptive to the experiences of others, such as:
Habitually quitting from competitive games modes.

Code of Conduct Limited Software License Agreement

PLEASE NOTE!

Bungie reserves the right to permanently ban Bungie game accounts or player hardware that have been confirmed as repeat offenders. Activity bans or restrictions may be escalated to device bans after multiple confirmed offenses.

Additionally, Bungie reserves the right to permanently ban game accounts or player hardware for first-time offenses deemed to be egregious violations of our Code of Conduct or Terms of Use.

Restricted Access to Gear, Items, and Content

When losing access to specific activities, players may also lose access to gear and items associated with that activity. This can include, but is not limited to, the following:

Destiny and Destiny 2 purchases, weapons, armor, items, quests, or game modes.
Marathon purchases, weapons, armor, contracts, or game mode.

PLEASE NOTE!

Players may lose access to all gear associated with an activity that they have been banned or restricted from, even if that gear was received outside the activity.

Appealing a Restriction

Restrictions are temporary, and may not be overturned or undone before they expire. Permanent bans are the result of escalating restrictions for the same behavior or for extreme violations of this policy.

Players are responsible for their online account, gaming hardware, and any actions taken in our games, and should be careful of who they allow accessing their account.

Ban/Restriction Appeal Contact Form

How to Not Get Banned or Restricted

Bungie will not punish a player for just playing the game. Players are encouraged to enjoy our games in whatever way they find fun: dancing on a Vendor’s head in the Tower, summoning and destroying UESC Security Forces, spamming grenades in Crucible matches, or just climbing a cliff in the open world to sit for hours enjoying the gorgeous view. It’s the player’s choice on how they wish to enjoy their time in our games. Generally speaking, if you are merely playing the game, then you shouldn't run into the enforcement issues described here.

Additionally, Bungie views the following behavior to be legitimate:

Using static analysis to reverse engineer data formats for the purpose of viewing game assets extracted out of the data files. Please note: Runtime analysis is not permitted and could result in an account or device ban.
Publishing or sharing information about our games and/or their assets via any non-commercial means.
Accessing the publicly-facing Bungie.net and Companion web APIs in a manner that does not create an unreasonable load on these services.

Abuse of External Accessibility Tools

Abusing external accessibility tools or aids specifically to gain an advantage over other players will result in escalating actions, including bans. This does not include using accessibility aids that enable an experience the game designers intended.

“External accessibility aides” are any device or input that augment the player’s ability to control the game beyond what it normally provides. This includes but is not limited to programmable controllers, keyboard/mouse adapters, advanced macros, or automation via artificial intelligence. This does not include features that Bungie provides. For more information on how Bungie supports accessibility, check out our goals outlined by Accessibility at Bungie here.
“Experience the game designers intended” means that content meant to be difficult, or prestige, is designed like that for a reason. We do not intend for difficulty to be automated away via software or hardware. Therefore, simply using an accessibility aide to play our games, where a player could not play otherwise, would not be a violation of this policy. Using these tools to mitigate challenges all players face, such as reduce recoil or increase aim assist, would be a violation.
“Gain an advantage” means used for the purpose, directly or indirectly, of achieving victory. For example, we have observed some players who abuse these tools rise in the PvP leaderboards at a rate far beyond what is typical for a player improving through normal play. Because benefits of cheating in PvE can spill over into PvP, we evaluate all gameplay for violations.

Additionally, players detected using automation to circumvent idle detection or perform automated activities to earn loot may be restricted or banned. Loot includes, but is not limited to, XP, credits, materials, equipment, or drops (e.g. Exotic class items).

Report Suspecting Cheating

Bungie takes the reports of suspected cheating very seriously. We use these reports and our own tools to investigate players who: may be tampering with their connection or other players' connections, other forms of cheating, and players who break Bungie's Code of Conduct.

View our Report Suspected Cheating article to learn how to report players in our games, on Bungie.net, or through our contact form.

Report Suspected Cheating

Vital Information

Please see below for more information players may find useful regarding Account Restrictions and Bans.

Steam Deck: Destiny 2 is not supported on Steam Deck unless Windows is installed and running our games through that system. Players who attempt to launch the game on the Steam Deck through SteamOS will be unable to enter the game and will be returned to their game library after a short time. Players who attempt to bypass the SteamOS and Proton incompatibility will receive an account ban.
Steam Play Proton: Destiny 2 is not compatible with Steam Play's Proton. Attempting to circumvent this incompatibility will result in an account ban.
PC Third-Party Applications: Running third-party PC applications that are incompatible with our games may impact game performance or prevent the games from running properly. Bungie will not ban or restrict players for using common third-party applications such as Discord, XSplit, OBS, RTSS or other apps as outlined in the Destiny 2 PC and Third-Party Application Feature Compatibility guide.

However, Bungie reserves the right to ban or restrict players who are using third-party applications to violate our Code of Conduct or the license agreement that governs our games as outlined above. Bans and restriction are not applied automatically. Bungie reviews all possible violations before applying a ban or restriction to an account or device.
Game Exploits: If a player finds a game exploit, they should report it to Bungie in our forums. Players who discover an exploit should not be worried about receiving a restriction or ban. Bungie will not punish a player for discovering a game exploit. Players are encouraged to report any game exploits so that they can be fixed to ensure all players have the best experience possible.
Reporting Players: Players who believe they have encountered another player manipulating a network connection or content should use the in-game reporting system. Players who are unable to use the in-game reporting system for any reason may report suspected cheaters using this contact form.
Weasel Errors: If a player receives a ban or restriction while logged into our games, they will be disconnected from the game's services and receive Error Code Weasel as part of the process of applying the ban or restriction.

Additionally, please note that Error Code Weasel is used for a variety of issues that can cause a disconnection to our game's services and that most instances of the Error Code Weasel won't be followed by a ban or restriction.
Restrictions Across Destiny Releases: Players who receive a restriction or ban in one of our games will not be restricted/banned in our other games, unless they also have a ban or restriction applied for that game.

However, players who have ever been banned or restricted in any Bungie game are considered high-risk players and are eligible for bans and restrictions at lower thresholds than players who have never been banned or restricted.