So-called shadow bans are currently a big topic in the community of Call of Duty: Warzone 2. Such a ban means that you play with cheaters or other suspicious players. However, the system seems to cause trouble and particularly frustrates good players.
Just recently, we reported on MeinMMO, that good players could encounter a problem if other players consider them “too good”. A few cheating reports about the reporting system, and you can already be considered suspicious.
In recent weeks, there have been unusually many reports about false shadow bans in the community. Generally, assessing from the outside is difficult – cheaters often claim that they are innocent, although there are good reasons for a ban or shadow ban.
However, more and more players who are considered “clean” are also affected. Additionally, there is now an error message that throws some players out of matches after 10 kills and categorizes them as “suspicious” and imposes a shadow ban.
CoD Warzone 2: Shadow ban system causes problems
What kind of system is this? The shadow ban system is a way for developers to separate suspicious accounts from regular players without permanently banning them right away. Shadow ban players then land together in matches without access to normal matchmaking.
A permanent ban in Call of Duty is usually not reversible, which is why there is this preliminary stage to check the accusations.
Analyses suggest that the system operates at least partially automatically. CoD expert “TheXclusiveAce” describes that cheating reports from players via the reporting system can automatically lead to a shadow ban (via youtube.com).
More about the shadow ban, how to check your status and get it removed can be found here:
What is the problem? Reports about the reporting system are a double-edged sword. The reports help to find suspicious players. However, ignorance about gameplay mechanics or an emotional overreaction can quickly lead to a report.
Additionally, it seems that the shadow ban system has been a bit buggy in recent weeks. While it was more of a conjecture two weeks ago, there are now gameplay clips with a pattern indicating a bug.
There are several clips showing a player with 10 kills in a match attacking an opponent, and then the player is ejected from the match. Thereafter, the player was given a shadow ban.
This happened, for instance, to the Warzone pro “IceManIsaac”:
Similarly, the player “RussJames” experienced this. He shared a similar clip on Twitter but with sniper gameplay (via twitter.com).
Also, the nature of the disconnects suggests a bug in the shadow ban system. Here, the only hint given is “Disconnected from Server” and no error code. This could mean that some system initiated the ejection.
Furthermore, the player RussJames was unbanned just one day after his shadow ban – which could also be related to a problem with the shadow ban system.
For affected players, an unjustified shadow ban is very annoying. Theoretically, you can play, get into matches, and encounter opponents.
However, in practice, such matches are often unplayable. You have a high ping and extremely high chances of encountering cheaters, which undermine the remaining fun of the game.
So far, there has been no response from the developers regarding the complaints from players.
As this likely involves a problem with the anti-cheat system, no detailed statements are to be expected. Here, they do not want to reveal their cards to provide hackers with information about the system.
What is known about the system can be read here: The anti-cheat system of CoD Warzone is online – This is “RICOCHET”
