When you log into your avatar, you will see a message that your avatar has been banned for one of several reasons, for example, for sending an inappropriate message, multi-accounting, password sharing, or the use of a bot or a script.
If a penalty is offered, you can accept it through the in-game system message. Accepting it allows you to return to the game sooner and does not remove your right to dispute the ban or request a review. If you do not accept it within 72 hours of the ban, it will be automatically applied to your avatar as described in the system ban message.
If a 33% population penalty is offered, you can accept it in-game to resume playing sooner. It removes 33% of your avatar's current population, selected at random across the account; for example, 330 population is removed from an avatar with 1,000 population. Penalties are not negotiable or individually reduced; the Rule Enforcement Team uses the same formula regardless of which server you play on. This penalty is automatically applied 72 hours after the ban if it has not been accepted.
If the penalty or warning message is not visible, clicking the map icon will trigger the message again.
This is because your avatar has broken the netiquette game rules in some form, for example, you have sent an inappropriate message or had prohibited text on your game profile. The notification will tell you how long the restriction will last. If you have been blocked from sending messages you will still be able to talk to those within your alliance and Customer Services, but no-one else. Customer Services may also change a village name that directly insults another player. You may receive a warning, but changing the name does not necessarily mean that a ban or other penalty has been applied.
No, by accepting the penalty, you can continue your game right away, you can also contact Customer Services for more information or to dispute your ban if you are convinced that you have not broken the rules.
Yes, if a ban is reviewed and is judged as incorrect then the penalty will be reversed.
If you close the ban message without accepting the offer, you can view it again by clicking on the map or attempting to building something.
By sending a message to Customer Services you will receive additional detail about your ban so you can understand which rule has been broken and how to prevent it from reoccurring in the future. They will also guide you through the process of disputing your ban if you do not agree with it.
When you contact Customer Services, they will explain why you were banned, and which actions violated the rules. If you believe the decision was incorrect, you may give an explanation and ask for the ban to be reviewed. Except for netiquette rule breaches, your Customer Service Representative will then forward it to the Rule Enforcement Team, who will conduct a full review of the ban, this will be done by a different person than the one who banned your avatar originally.
Any brief details about the circumstances involved are helpful. If, for example, you have been banned for password sharing or multi-accounting, explain how and in what ways you have a connection to other avatars. For a suspected password-sharing or multi-accounting ban, reply to the support ticket to dispute the ban and request a review by the Rule Enforcement Specialists. Explain the link between the accounts, how you access the game, which devices you share, and whether you know or have saved the password for another account. Support can then forward the request to a Senior Rule Enforcement Specialist for review.
To dispute a ban for suspected scripts, bots, add-ons, or automation, reply to the ban ticket to dispute the ban and request a review. Include any browser add-ons, extensions, or modifications you use; any third-party tools, websites, or applications you have used, including in the past; and whether anyone else has access to the account, such as a family member who has not been added as a dual. Also check with all duals and sitters, as their use of prohibited programs can affect the account. Duals must be added through their own Lobby accounts. Support can then forward the request to a Senior Rule Enforcement Specialist for review.
In most cases, a review is completed quickly, and you will be contacted with the final result as soon as possible. You will be informed if the ban and penalty are judged to be correct or not. If either the ban or penalty is incorrect you will be given clear information on what has happened, such as reversing a penalty should it have already been applied.
While we can't share the details of how the Rule Enforcement detected the violation, there is some information we can provide. Due to data-protection and privacy regulations, we cannot provide information about the status or impact of other avatars that may have been involved in a ban.
For scripts and bots violations, you can get a timeframe for when the script or bot was used. If it was a sitter or a dual that used a script or bot on your avatar, Customer Service can tell you if a sitter or dual was involved.
If you have been banned for raiding private farms, you can get the list of private farms for which you were banned.
Customer Services are not able to resolve payment bans however they will give you the information on who to contact and a reference code for the transaction that triggered the ban. Within the message you received, there are instructions to contact [email protected] to resolve the situation. All questions about your payment ban should be sent to them.
After your avatar has been released from a password sharing ban, or certain bot or script bans, then it is particularly important that you do. It never hurts to change your password and it could prevent you from being banned again in the future.
