Three-Strike Discipline Policy (Punishment System)

https://niantic.helpshift.com/a/pokemon-go/?s=safety-security&f=three-strike-discipline-policy&l=en&p=web This is the official source where you can read about their punishment system against cheating/spoofing/botting. I copied and pasted it here because people did not know a punishment system exists for Pokemon Go.

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. However, if offenders continue cheating, they will be permanently removed from the game in accordance with the Pokémon GO Terms of Service (https://nianticlabs.com/terms/).

For the purposes of this policy, we define cheating as behaviors that violate the Pokémon GO Terms of Service and Trainer Guidelines, such as falsifying location (GPS location spoofing) and accessing Pokémon GO clients or backends in an unauthorized manner, including through the use of third-party software or add-ons.

A strike serves as a warning. Everyone can make mistakes. That’s why we have created this policy to enable offenders to learn from their mistakes and change their ways. If you have been issued a strike, don’t ignore it. Take action to ensure that you do not commit any further transgressions.

Keep in mind that offenders are not always offered three strikes. Some misbehavior [see below] may result in immediate account termination without prior warning.

​

https://preview.redd.it/p49tqu24n9g81.jpg?width=405&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0a3bdcd8aa64b4bc4c47abf08f3608386d6c18d6

Strike 1 "Red Warning". This was from a member who used Pgsharp inside the VMOS emulator.

Strike 1: Warning

Disciplinary actions: If this strike is issued, you will see a warning message within the Pokémon GO app informing you that we have detected cheating on your account. In addition to this warning, your gameplay experience may be degraded in the following ways for the duration of the warning:

• You may not be able to encounter rare Pokémon in the wild and from the Incense. These Pokémon may not appear on the map or on the Nearby Pokémon tracker.
• You may be excluded from receiving new EX Raid Passes
• [You will get kicked out of raids and Go Battle League during this 1st strike.]

Duration: This strike will last for approximately 7 days. After this period, your gameplay experience will fully be restored.

​

https://preview.redd.it/l8papj9to9g81.jpg?width=416&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1791fa7282fbf4c7ad243adca7bfee039a73fb95

Strike 2 screenshot looks or says something like this. It is hard to find something recent for Android.

Strike 2: Suspension

Disciplinary actions: If your account is issued a second strike, you will temporarily lose access to your Pokémon GO account. When attempting to log into the game, you’ll be presented with a message stating that your account is suspended. You will not be able to bypass this message.

Duration: This strike will last for approximately 30 days. After that period, your account access will be restored.

Strike 3 screenshot is very hard to find because I have only seen it a few times in Discord groups during the last major ban wave in November 2019 to January 2020.

Strike 3: Termination

Disciplinary actions: If you receive the first and second strikes and continue to cheat, your account will be permanently banned.

Duration: Permanent

Appealing your punishment

If you believe your account has been terminated in error, you may appeal the termination. We will respond to your appeal after a complete investigation of your account. Please note that due to the high level of accuracy in our detection systems, very few terminations are ever overturned. Ban appeals must be submitted via web form. To send a ban appeal, please submit a request through our web-based  Help Center and select "Ban Appeal" from the drop-down menu.

3.1 Cheating

This is copied and pasted from Niantic Terms of Service from https://nianticlabs.com/terms/ under "3 Use of the Services".

Niantic prohibits cheating, and we constantly take steps to improve our anti-cheat measures. Cheating includes any action that attempts to or actually alters or interferes with the normal behavior or rules of a Service. Cheating includes, but is not limited to, any of the following behavior, on your own behalf or on behalf of others:

• Accessing Services in an unauthorized manner (including using modified or unofficial third party software);
• Playing with multiple accounts for the same Service;
• Sharing accounts;
• Using any techniques to alter or falsify a device’s location (for example through GPS spoofing); and/or
• Selling or trading accounts.

Apps may not work on devices that Niantic detects or reasonably suspects to be cheating, and Niantic will not provide support to players who attempt to cheat. You agree that Niantic may employ any lawful mechanisms to detect and respond to cheating, fraud, and other behavior prohibited under these Terms, including checking your device for the existence of exploits or hacking and/or unauthorized software.

>>>> PLEASE READ !!!! <<<<

Every thing below this section is based on my experience when I was a moderator in r/PokemonGoSpoofing and my thoughts about spoofing/cheating/botting. I spoofed with rooted methods when it first came out in July 2016 and have seen the Android joystick app ban waves in the past. There is no such thing as "Safe and ban proof."

Here is a short history on the past ban waves and detections from late 2016 to mid 2018.

1. No Root Fly GPS (joystick) app got a ban wave.
2. Joystick apps like GPS Joystick and FGL PRO without rooting got a ban wave.
3. Niantic attempted one IP address ban but reversed it due to many complaints.
4. SuperSu root, SuperSu hide, toogle SuperSu on/off app (while still being rooted; predates Magisk Hide) got detected resulting in the incompatible screen (detected root and prevents you from playing the game).
5. Xposed Framework got detected resulting in the incompatible screen.
6. Downgrading Google Play Services method got stopped on newer devices.
7. TWRP folder detection on rooted devices resulted in an incompatible screen even with Magisk Hide on but got reversed because people complained to Google about Niantic breaking TOS service to see what other apps you used.

If you use anything below here, you are a cheater!

This means you are punishable by the 3 strikes system, which depends on if Niantic can detect them. Just because there has not been a ban wave in a long time does not mean they are considered "safe and ban proof". At any time, Niantic can change their Terms of Service and 3-strike system to an instant permanent ban system. Everything you see below is considered "not safe and not ban proof" because these are against Pokemon GO Terms of Service. I will go over what is considered "safe" or "risky" below to help you understand there are some risks you have to take if you want to cheat/spoof/bot the game.

I also changed how I ranked cheating: low, medium, and high risk to "safe" and "risky" to keep it more simple. There was also no ban wave for Pgsharp in 2021, the first no root modified app for Android. This is either due to the COVID-19 Pandemic or Niantic has a hard time detecting it.

SAFE

Safe means Niantic allows you to do it without breaking Pokemon Go Terms of Service.

• Playing the game as intended by walking around outside using the official, unmodified Pokemon Go app that is downloaded from the Google Play Store, Galaxy Store, or Apple's iOS App Store.
• Using a Gotcha, Go Plus, Pokeball Plus, or other similar devices.
• IV apps: CalcyIV or PokeGenie to see Pokemon IV and stats. These apps take a screenshot then run OCR to recognize text to show you additional information.
• Phone rocking machines. This does not connect to your phone and cannot be identified by software detection.

RISKY = 1% to 99% chance for a strike

Risky means you have a chance for getting punished with a strike if you are caught. You are a cheater because you are giving yourself an unfair advantage that normal or legit players do not get. Everything below here is risky as in not safe and not ban proof!

• Adventure Sync apps: Defit and Pokewalk - Used with Adventure Sync to hatch eggs and walk your buddy for candies. These apps trick the game into thinking you are walking around outside, but you are really not outside.
• Android Joystick apps: Fly GPS, FGL Pro, Fake GPS Routes, and GPS Joystick used with No Root Downgrade Google Play Service method or Rooted methods like Smali Patcher, Systemized, Taichi (dead), and EdXposed/Xposed Framework.
• Android 3rd Party/Add-ons: Enhancer and Pokemod - These apps give you enhance throw where you can throw 100% excellent curve ball all the time along with other special features that are not available in the official Pokemon Go app.
• Android unofficial modified apps: PGSharp
• Android bots: Charbot, Polygon, and ADB bot could result in account termination or Red Slashed Pokemon (they cannot be traded, put into gyms, used in raids, and used in PvP) when they detect it. The only thing you can do with a Red Slashed Pokemon is transfer it for candies.
• Android emulators: VMOS, Bluestacks, NOX, MuMu, and LDPlayer.
• iOS unofficial modified apps: iPogo and Xspoofer.
• iOS 3rd Party/Add-ons: SX-PokeGo (iOS), iTools Dongle (iOS), and all those 3rd party app stores.
• iOS computer software spoofing: iTools and similar software.
• Scanning items in your home to complete an AR+ Pokestop Task. Can trigger human investigation.
• Uploading your raid data to Niantic. If you do not read the fine print on this, you agree to share all apps installed on your device with Niantic for a human to review.
• Buying, trading, or receiving an account. This is risky because you do not know if the account was botted on or has gotten a strike recently. You can ask the seller if the account has a strike, but he or she is going to lie because the seller wants your money. They can also reclaim the account even if the seller gives you the email address and password. It is best to create your own account and level it up yourself.
• Having multiple accounts. This is here because it is in the Terms of Service for cheating. This one is tricky because they did not specify what is multiple accounts. For example, are they talking about an individual having multiple accounts on a single device or IP address. What if you are really a family who has a partner and two kids? This means there are four accounts on one IP address if you are playing at home but cannot go outside because it is snowing. Imagine all those cheaters in r/PokemonGo, LOL!

How do you get a Red Warning/strike?

1. Niantic detects the joystick app, modified app, 3rd party/add-on app, or botting program.
2. You login into the game using what they detect and your account gets flagged. There is no way for to see or know if your accounts have been flagged.
3. Niantic waits awhile (could be a few to many months) to flag as many accounts as possible.
4. Once they have a high number, the ban wave occurs when Niantic sends out the Red Warning to all flagged accounts.
5. You open the game and see the Red Warning (picture at the top of this post).
6. You do not believe it, so you close the game and open it again and still see the Red Warning.
7. You rush onto Reddit and/or Discord to ask if other people are getting Red Warnings too.

Most Recent BAN WAVE from year 2021 to present

• Adventure Sync apps: none
• Android Joystick apps: none
• No Root by Downgrading Google Play Services method: none
• No Root using PGSharp modified app directly on your device: none
• Rooted method - Smali Patcher: none
• Rooted method - Systemized: none
• Rooted method - Taichi (dead method): none
• Rooted method - Enhancer: none
• Rooted method - Pokemod: none
• All known Android bots: none
• Android emulators: Happens every few weeks. I know many people use VMOS (on Huawei/ZTE devices), Bluestacks, NOX, MuMu, or LDPlayer with Pgsharp on their computer. I get messages from people reporting an emulator ban wave frequently. My subreddit would be spammed with "I got a red warning" posts, so I do not allow emulators here.
• Apple iOS modified apps like iPogo (and possibly Xspoofer but this one is rarely talked about outside of PokeXperience Paid Discord group membership):
  • March 2022, mini-ban wave confirmed in i_Pogo b.a.n wave mega thread post. I think it was caused by a bad certificate when one of the Apple developer accounts shared through Signulous (paid certificate signing service) got terminated/revoked/banned/whatever they call it.
  • March 2021 as seen in this Be aware post from r/PokemonGoSpoofing. There is also an active post filter, which I put in when I used to be a mod in there, will remove anything related to strikes, red warnings, and bans. This is why you stopped seeing any posts related to these topics since the last major ban wave in 2019. There could also be more recent ban wave posts, but no one can see them except for the current owner who is rarely active.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you get "banned" when they catch you for cheating/spoofing/botting?

Many people are confusing the strike system with a ban system. In many other games, you do not get a warning before they punish you for cheating. If they catch you or detect your cheats, your account gets a permanent ban (and sometimes with a device ban).

Here with Pokemon Go, you get TWO CHANCES before they permanently ban your account for cheating. They can still go straight to the 3rd strike if you do certain things as listed below in the 3rd strike question.

What happens when you get the 1st strike (or strike #1)?

1st strike is a warning to tell you to stop cheating. You can still play on your warned Pokemon Go account. During this 7-day period, you only see Rattatas and Pidgeys. You cannot spin Pokestops, cannot do raids, cannot do trainer battles, cannot do Go Battle League, and cannot trade until your red warning expires.

• After you get this warning, you have to play legit using the official Pokemon Go app without any cheats (anything that is listed in the "risky" section above).
• You will trigger the next strike even if you carefully follow the cooldown and wait real airplane travel times. It also does not matter if you change to a different spoofing method and go from iOS to Android or Android to iOS.

Do the Strikes reset over time?

There is no clear "yes" or "no" answer to this question because Niantic does not publically talk about this anywhere in their Terms of Service.

I think it does reset if you wait over 1 year. Out of my many accounts, only one account has ever gotten a strike. This was during the time of the VMOS emulator Systemized spoofing with VFIN app method that was popular back in mid 2019 while I was still a mod in r/PokemonGoSpoofing. I created a new Google account specifically for this method. This was very popular because you could root and spoof on your current device without really rooting it and messing up your device. You could just turn SuperSU root on or off through a setting inside the emulator app for your smartphone or tablet. Unfortunately, this lasted about 2 months before there was a ban wave.

This method died off soon after the ban wave because there was a dispute between the VMOS and VFIN app developers. The VMOS developers were cashing in on ad revenue by integrated VFIN app (bypasses SafetyNet checks) into their emulator without their permission. VFIN developers were not getting paid, so they stopped providing updates to their app. Without the VFIN app, you would just get the incompatible screen and cannot play the game.

I abandoned when VMOS method died off. For this account, I have not used it in over 1 to 2 years until Pgsharp started to allow Google account logins. I started to use this account again to see if I would get the 2nd strike or 1st strike again. So far, it has not happened. I believe my strike got reset when I stopped using the account for over 1 year.

What happens when you get the 2nd strike (or strike #2)?

2nd strike is a temporary ban from the game for 30 days. You open the game, and you are greeted with the Red Warning message.

• You cannot close this message, and it will not allow you to play the game for 30 days.

What happens when you get the 3rd strike (or strike #3)?

The 3rd strike is a permanent ban from the game. Your account is most likely gone forever; however, you can try to do a ban appeal. Make sure to be really nice to the person who is handling your case. You should save the ban appeal for this strike because if you attempt to do it with the 2nd strike, Niantic can move you onto the 3rd strike. Then, you cannot do a ban appeal anymore.

• Live streaming while you spoof in Pokemon Go can result in an instantly ban without going through the 1st and 2nd strikes. Covering your trainer name is not enough to prevent them from giving you a permanent ban.
• Botting the game can result in this. If you are lucky, you can get Red Slashed Pokemon instead of a Permanent Ban. Red Slashed Pokemon can only be transferred and cannot be used in raids, Go Battle League, gyms, and trades. This means you can still have access to your account. You wlll also get a strike too.
• Placing a new unreleased Pokemon into a gym where that Pokemon is not available yet can result in a permanent ban too. How? People can screenshot your trainer and unreleased new Pokemon and report it to customer service.
• Manipulating game values with Game Guardian or something similar. This is the only known method used to one shot players in Go Battle League. I have seen a video of someone doing this, but a guide does not exist on how to use Game Guardian with Pokemon Go. If you do not understand how to code, it is impossible for you to try to do it on your own. A rooted device is required to use Game Guardian.

Why are emulators easily detectable?

Emulators are easy to detect because everyone has the same mac address, hardware ID, or something that identifies you are using VMOS, Bluestacks, NOX, MuMu, or LD Player when you load the game even if it is through Pgsharp. This is why I do not allow emulators here in my subreddit because they have frequent ban/strike waves. I also no interest or desire to play Pokemon Go on my PC because I rather play Call of Duty or Battlefield on my PC.

Is the statement "Rooted Android is safe and ban proof" true?

The people who say, "Rooted Android is safe and ban proof" are wrong because nothing is safe and ban proof. The first couple of Android app ban waves happened in late 2016 to mid 2018. First, it was Fly GPS app. Second, was GPS Joystick app. Third, was FGL Pro joystick app. Niantic does not detect the spoofing setup methods (Smali Patcher or Systemized) but go for the actual joystick, modified, add-on, and emulator apps.

Are there any "safe and ban proof" methods to play Pokemon Go with a joystick?

No because Niantic designed Pokemon Go to be played outside using your two legs. If you have physical disabilities, health problems, or whatever other reason that prevents you from playing the game as intended, this means you should not be playing Pokemon Go.

If you want to play a Pokemon game with a joystick, you must buy an Nintendo Switch with Pokemon: Let's Go or some other game. The joystick is built into the Switch console device. This not a cheat and is allowed by Nintendo and The Pokemon Company.

What if I play on an "alt" or second account for spoofing or botting?

You are still not safe from the 3-strike system because you have multiple accounts. So far, they have not targeted people with multiple accounts. This means you are still a cheater. As I said before, Niantic can suddenly change their Terms of Service and 3-strike punishment system. They can decided if they want to ban all accounts, they choose the account you get to keep and ban the rest, or let you pick which account to keep and ban the rest. No one knows what Niantic is going to do if they decide to go after people with multiple accounts.

Has anyone ever gotten a strike using Defit or Pokewalk?

Yes, it is possible to get a strike with Defit because people were using it to walk 2,000 (or more) km per week. I think it is best to average 1,000 KM or less per week if you use Adventure Sync apps.

Can I cheat/spoof/bot with my main account?

This is your choice. If you value your account, you really have to decide if you want to risk it because Niantic can suddenly change their 3-strike system to an instant permanent ban system. I am not responsible or liable for the loss of your accounts.

Why does iPogo/Xspoofer iOS modified apps get ban waves but Pgsharp Android modified app does not get a ban wave?

Full disclaimer: I am not an Android coder and also do not own any Apple devices, so I might not be explaining this correctly. This my theory or guess on why iPogo/Xspoofer gets ban waves while Pgsharp does not.

I suspected iOS modified apps like iSpoofer (dead), iPogo, and Xspoofer were easier to detect because they require a signed certificate in order for you to install these modified apps outside of the iOS App Store. I assume this is the basic understanding of their process:

1. Apple revokes the certificate that the iOS modified apps used.
2. You open iPogo or Xspoofer with a bad certificate.
3. Your account gets flagged because you are using a bad certificate while everyone else is using an approved Apple certificate.
4. Niantic has the approved list of certificates. If you are not on the list, you get a Red Warning/Strike for trying to sneak in without using their official Pokemon Go app from the iOS App Store.

What if your Operating System does not have a certificate signing process like Android?

The recent iPogo ban wave in March 2021 only affected a small group of people who had bad certificates while the rest of the other people claimed they were unaffected. With an Android OS, you can install any app you want without the need to sign a certificate with Google. I think this means Niantic has a lot harder time to detect PGSharp.

I came to this conclusion because if one iOS app had a ban wave, the other iOS app would have one too. For example, if Global++ had a ban wave, iSpoofer would have one too. Global++ got sued and died off. Then, it was iSpoofer and iPogo. iSpoofer got a ban wave and so did iPogo. iSpoofer got sued and died off. Now, it is only iPogo. There is also Xspoofer, but this one is rarely talked about because PokeXperience acquired iSpoofer's code and kept it within their Discord group. When iPogo got their ban wave in March 2021, Pgsharp, also a modified app, did not get a ban wave.

This means iOS modified app spoofing is vulnerable because they have to use signed certificates. Most people cannot afford the $99/year Apple developer account, so they buy Singuolus to get access to a shared Apple developer account. I think if this account gets flagged, everyone who used that certificate will get flagged for a strike. It can also go the other way where if you are not using Niantic's signed certificate, you can also get a strike even if you have your own Apple developer account.

Niantic has to go to extreme lengths in order to detect apps. They have done it three times before (Fly GPS, GPS Joystick, and TWRP Folder). They have a Terms of Service contract with Google. I do not know what is in the ToS contract but if enough people complain to Google and cause them to investigate, they can get Niantic to reverse their actions because it breaches the contract. I don't know what Niantic's punishments are from Google. It could a warning, a threat to be removed from the Google Play Store, reduced percentage earnings from people buying Poke Coins, or breach of contract lawsuit.

Are the strikes tied to your account or device?

• If you spoof on account A and B but never spoof on account C, you will never get a strike on account C.
• You can get a strike on account C if you cheat/spoof/bot with it or Niantic decides to go after people with multiple accounts.
• Niantic does not do device bans because a device ban will require you to buy a new device in order to continue playing. Other game developers do device and/or IP address bans for people using hex editors to gives themselves free premium credits and/or items without spending real money. I have had experience with this in the past for Crime City, Modern War, Need for Speed No Limit, and some other games.

Can I have avoid getting another strike if I quit spoofing on Apple iOS?

• If you are an iOS spoofer who has gotten a strike on your account and you switch to spoofing on Android, your 1st or 2nd strike does not go away. If you continue to spoof, you can still get the next strike.

Can a "soft ban" cause a strike?

A "soft ban" is the cooldown effect. While you are waiting a cooldown, you are also have a soft ban at the same time. If your cooldown is for 2 hours, your soft ban is for 2 hours too. Once your cooldown expires, your soft ban goes away too.

• This is called a soft ban because it is what you experience when you get the 1st strike. This only lasts up to 2 hours where as the 1st strike lasts for a total of 7 days (168 hours).
• If you never had a strike on your account, getting a soft ban cannot cause a strike.
• If your account has recently got a strike, it is possible that getting a soft ban can cause the next strike.

Can I get a Red Warning for using Poke Genie, Calcy IV, and etc.?

• No, these apps take a screenshot of your Pokemon then runs OCR to convert an image into text to provide you with the information. A lot of legit players use these apps too because the in-game IV checker works okay but doesn't provide detailed information.

Is it safe to buy accounts?

• The answer is no because of these reasons:
  • The seller can scam you by recovering the account and email address X amount days later. The are ways to do it even if they give out the email address and password. Throwaway email addresses can be recovered too.
  • The seller could have sold you an account that had just received a strike but did not tell you about it. One soft ban could trigger the 2nd or 3rd strike.
  • It is impossible to get a refund once you buy digital items like accounts, Pokemon, and services.

Can I get a strike for knocking out Pokemon in a gym or taking over all the gyms in an area?

• No, if you knock out all the gyms and put a Pokemon that is already available in that timezone. If you decide to be an asshole and do this anyway, this is part of the game.
• Yes, if you knock out all the gyms and put a Pokemon that is not released yet in that timezone. If you caught the new Costumed Pikachu from an event in New Zealand and waited 3 hours later to knock out all the gyms in your area in the US. You wanted to show off by putting the Costumed Pikachu (or new event Pokemon that is not released in the US yet) in gyms in your area to show-off. Then, people can screenshot you and report you to Niantic customer service.

Can I get a strike from trading Pokemon with a Spoofer?

• No.

Can I get a strike from sharing my account details to receive Leveling or Catching services?

• Yes if they are careless.

Can I get a strike from buying Pokemon with real money from Ebay and Discord groups?

• No.
• Yes if it involves the other person going onto your account.

Can I get a strike from doing Go Battle League?

• NO if you use the official Pokemon Go app without a joystick opened.
• YES if you use the game with a spoofing app or modified app.

Can I get a strike for having poor signal strength while doing Go Battle League?

• NO because you are not really cheating even though you are lagging in the game. This will either result in a short winning or losing streak. This is a known exploit to get easy wins or a losing streak too. It is recommend you use the official Pokemon Go app only in a building that gives poor signal.

Useful stuff as always:

These are links you can click with your mouse or press with your finger to open.

If you need anything else, be sure to check out: [Click/Press Here] MEGA POST #4: Everything You Need for Android Spoofing 2022 - Guides for No Root Spoofing, Rooted Spoofing, and Botting - GPX Routes, Poke Maps, Nests, Discord Groups, and Frequently Asked Questions