#Want to hack and pirate on your 3DS? Start here: https://3ds.hacks.guide/

• You should ONLY follow the guide in the link above. DO NOT follow video guides as they are likely out of date and may result in permanently damaging your device.

• The ONLY ways to hack your 3DS are those explained on the guide. If you cannot follow that guide, you cannot hack your device.

• Review the FAQ before posting about an issue. If your post got removed by the automod please do not make a new one. All posts removals by the automod are reviewed by a human moderator. This might take longer than 48 hours in some cases.

#11.17 Update Questions

• If your console does not yet have custom firmware, do NOT update to the latest version unless the guide instructs you to.

• If your unmodified console is ALREADY on 11.17.0, the guide has been updated accordingly.

• If your console is running Luma 10.2.1 or higher, it is 100% safe to update. You can check your Luma version by holding (Select) while booting your console.

• If your console is on an older Luma version, you should update Luma before you update your console to 11.17.0.

• If you’ve already updated your hacked device to 11.17 BEFORE updating Luma, and now recieving an error, update luma manually

• You cannot downgrade from 11.17.

#Requesting a file? Post your request in the File Request Megathread

#Useful Tools & Tips

• Download 3DS & VC games as CIA files directly to 3DS via HShop.

• Install CIA files via the FBI app - Use the FBI app to scan QR codes and download games over WiFi. Only works for 3DS games and VC’s, not NDS games. See r/3dsqrcodes

• GodMode9 lets you rip roms from a cart, rip saves, and much more. How to rip game cartridges via GodMode9.

• If you just want to play Pokémon games, see this full guide

• Turn any ROM into a CIA file via New Super Ultimate Injector 3DS, an application that allows you to inject Nes, Snes, GameBoy, GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advance, Mega Drive, Game Gear and TurbiGrafx 16 ROMs in to the 3DS.

• Use FTPD for quick file transfers to the 3DS over wifi without the need of removing the SD card. Available in the Universal Updater app.

• Use 3DShell for file management of your SD card from your 3DS instead of plugging it into your computer. Available in the Universal Updater app.

• Anemone theme manager - View and download custom themes

• Checkpoint - back up & restore your save file for 3DS and official VC games. Install cheats as well!

• Universal Updater - an app that allows you to install homebrew apps and files. Most of the apps on this list can be downloaded from the Universal Updater.

• Wumiibo - Amiibo Emulation. See the list of Amiibo supported games.

• GYTB Lets you customize your folders and home screen with badges and icons.

Useful Subreddits

• r/Citra - Any questions about Citra

• r/3dshacks - Questions about CFW/Hacking (do not mention anything related to piracy there)

• r/flashcarts - Questions about flashcarts (self-contained hardware devices with roms on a flashdrive)

• r/3dsqrcodes - QR Codes of 3DS software and VC’s

#How to get any game on your device

• 3DS Games, DSiWare, and Official Virtual Consoles (Gameboy, GBC, NES, SNES)

  • HShop contains all 3DS games, official virtual consoles, and DSiWare.

• MAKING VC GAME INJECTS (GBA, GB, GBC, NES, SNES, PS1, NEOGEO, ETC)*

  • Use New Super Ultimate Injector to make VC inject CIAs of various platforms which get added as Home screen icons. Here's an alternative guide on how to use it.

  • PS1 injects are also available, but only on NEW 3DS/2DS. Compatibility is not perfect. See compartibility list.

  • NEOGEO games are recommended for only NEW 3DS/2DS systems. Games also may have performance issues.

  • All require rom files, which are readily available online. If you want help with where to find them ask in the REQUEST MEGATHREAD.

• N64: DaedalusX64 is a Nintendo 64 emulator for the 3DS.

• RetroArch - Plays lots of different systems, including PS1. Use the 3dsx version.

• Nintendo DS

  • Download roms from the sources in the ROMS section below or ask for roms in the REQUEST MEGATHREAD and put them into your SD card in /ROMS/NDS.

  • DS games cannot be a CIA file, except DSiWare.

  • There are 3 ways to play DS games on your system:

  1. Get an R4 flashcart, THE YEAR ON THE CARD DOES NOT MATTER! Install ysmenu+rgf kernel, get it here.

  2. Use a DS Forwarder to put a DS game on your homescreen. We recomended either NDSForwarder or YANBF. You may need to AP patch the roms.

  3. Install Twilight Menu++. This is an application that, when opened, looks and functions like the DSi menu. It allows you to access and play Roms via a prettier interface. If your app is broken, try downloading it again from the Universal Updater app or try this.

#Where to find Games

Ripping 3DS & DS cartridges

• How to rip game cartridges via GodMode9

CIA file sites

• hshop (Recommended)

• Ziperto (Decrypted Roms)

Rom Sites

• RomsForever

• Vimm's Lair

• r/Piracy Megathread

QR CODES

• hshop (Recommended)

• r/3dsqrcodes

CIA COLLECTIONS

• Internet Archive - 3DS

• Juegos de Nintendo 3DS (In Spanish, but has English too)

• Official VC Collection.

• DSiWare Collection

• Retro Games Collection

• Misc. Collection

• 2TB collection, including roms not playable on 3DS.

DISCORD SERVERS

• Piratendo (No piracy talk)

Note: We do not take responsibility for anything that happens offsite, use common sense when downloading files from the internet, no matter where.

#Migrate save files

• GodMode 9 - Rip and restore saves guide here.Inject saves to VC’s. Inject saves to GBA VC’s.

• Copy your .sav file to roms/nds/saves/ and name it the same as the ROM but with the “.sav” extension instead of “.nds”. Same for GBA folder, etc.

• Checkpoint - Rip saves from 3DS cart

  1. put physical copy into 3DS

  2. open up checkpoint, select the cartridge version, back up the save and name it something obvious

  3. remove the cartridge

  4. select the digital version of the game you backed up and then pick the save you just made a back up of and click “restore save”.

Frequently Asked Questions

❔ How do I hack my 3DS? / Follow the guide here. Don't use a youtube video.

❔ Can i play out of region games? / Hacking makes your 3DS/2DS be able to play any region. You can play EUR games on a USA system and the opposite USA games on a EUR system, etc..

❔My game isn’t loading! / Import the seed first by locating the game within FBI → Titles → Selecting the game → Import seed. If that doesn't work, try switching the games region to whatever it is with Luma Locale Switcher. If the game is USA then switch the region of it to USA and try loading it again. For certain games, like Luigi's Mansion and Tomodachi Life, you need the right region for the game to work. If you can‘t get games to work please comment below for help.

❔ Whatever happened to Freeshop? / Nintendo killed it, along with all other programs that get games from Eshop servers. They are permanently dead. Try the HShop

❔ Can I update to the latest update? / Yes. Update Luma to the latest stable release and then update your system software.

❔ I found a .CIA - now what? / Put it on your SD card and use an installer like FBI to install the game.

❔ Can I get banned for pirating games? / Yes and No. It has happened in the past, but it’s been years since any bans. Nintendo does not know if your console is hacked. They do not know if you are playing games you installed from a .CIA. Don’t cheat while playing online and you should be fine. 3DS is dead now anyway so Nintendo seems to have giving up.

❔ How can I install games if I don’t have access to the SD card? / Use Boop (Use version 1.4.0 if the game you’re sending is 1GB or larger) or FTPD. Boop is PC only while FTP can be done via PC or your phone. Boop guide and FTP Phone guide for Android and Apple. FTP is easy to use on PC just use a FTP app like Filezilla.

❔ If I have a pirated copy of Pokémon, can I use the Pokébank? / Yes. PokéBank is now free to use and can be downloaded from the HShop. You can also use PKSM on your 3DS or PKHEX on your PC for a free alternative. See this guide for more helpful Pokémon information.

❔ Can I upgrade my SD Card? / Yes. Format the new card to Fat32 and copy the entire contents of your old card to the new one. Cards up to 256GB work fine. 128GB and bigger SD cards should be formatted with 64KB clusters or else GBA VC Injects may have display problems.

❔ Can I pop in my SD card into a non hacked console and have my games playable? / No, it doesn’t work like that. Even a hacked console can’t use the same SD card you have in another system. Nintendo made the 3DS locked to a single system with the SD card. Meaning it only works on the one system it’s tied to.

❔ Can I do a system transfer to another system and still have my CIA games? / Yes, but the other console needs to be hacked first. Hack the system you wish to system transfer to first. (Note: back up your saves with checkpoint before doing the transfer in case anything happens). Then do the system transfer. Once done, use Faketik to restore your CIA installed games. See this guide for more details.

❔ I have some .3ds files how do I convert them to .cia, or Install them to my device? / If you want to do a conversion on your 3DS use this guide. If you want to do it on your PC use this program. If you want to install them directly you can do so by using Godmode9.

❔ I have a 3DS game cartridge that I want to dump and install as a .cia how do I do it? / Guide here

❔ I have a DSi. Can I hack it? / See the megathread on it here

❔ I want to backup or edit my GBA VC Inject save how do I get the save file? / How to Backup and how to Restore the save.

❔ I want to hack my system, how risky is it? / Thanks to our user fork_on_the_floor2 who has done a poll among our members we can give you the empirical risks of you running into problems:

• 80.58% did not have any issues hacking their system

• 16.91% had minor issues that were easy to fix

• 1% of users had major issues or bricked their system*

Old Megathread. For the other old megathreads, use the searchbar.

Send a DM if any information is missing or out of date. This post is for questions and tech help. Add any requests to the stickied REQUESTS MEGATHREAD. Any requests here will be deleted!

^Last ^updated: ^2023-06-28. ^v1.3