Quick answer: You can get unbanned from CoD – be it Warzone, Modern Warfare III, or Black Ops 6 – if you use Activision’s appeal portal and attach rock-solid proof such as logs, transcripts or match replays. Below are the exact actions and success stats we drew from thousands of tickets.
Key takeaways
- False positives from Ricochet anti-cheat and mass reports see the highest reversal rate.
- Shadowbans lift themselves once manual review clears you, but extra evidence speeds that up.
- Toxicity or hate-speech bans are rarely lifted unless chat context shows no slurs.
- VPNs cannot help you lift a ban, as no restriction is ever placed on your IP.
- Attach your full proof pack in one ticket; multiple appeals reset the queue.
- Average Activision response time in 2024-25: 3 business days.
Why Activision Bans Call of Duty Accounts
Our 2024 dataset covers Warzone, MW II/III and Black Ops. Percentages below reflect our ticket-volume dataset, not Activision’s global numbers. You can find more info about the latter in Activision’s Security and Enforcement Policy.
| Reason | Share of cases (2024) |
| Cheating | 68.03% |
| Shadowban after mass reports | 8.11% |
| Toxicity | 7.94% |
| Account compromise | 5.61% |
| Boosting | 10.31% |
Since 2024, CoD uses an AI-powered real-time voice-chat filter. It flags slurs and harassment instantly, even in party chat, so watch your mic input; “private jokes” can also trigger bans.
What counts as “cheating” in Call of Duty? Activision groups aimbots, ESP wall-hacks, radar hacks, trigger bots, “unlock-all” tools that grant every camo/weapon, and spoofers that mask those mods under the same cheating umbrella. Ricochet anti-cheat flags any of these automatically, and manual reviewers verify on appeal.
HWID bans: Cheating suspensions come along with a hardware ID ban. VPNs or new accounts won’t help, as the ban is placed on your motherboard/drive serials. Only a successful appeal, or a new PC, removes it.
Shadowban info: if you rack up enough player reports you’ll get placed in high-latency lobbies with other flagged accounts while Activision investigates. The review can take up to two weeks. If the reports are cleared you can re-enter normal lobbies. If not, the shadowban escalates to a permanent account (and often HWID) ban.
Decision Matrix – Can You Unban a Call of Duty Account?
| Reason | Chance | Evidence Activision Wants |
| Cheating false positive | High | Clean system-scan report, unedited gameplay clip. |
| Shadowban | High | Match IDs, timestamps, POV recording showing no cheats. |
| Toxicity | Medium | Full voice/text transcript (or an explanation of it), context, prior clean chat history. Slurs have zero-tolerance though. |
| Account compromise | High | IP login map, 2FA screenshot, password-reset confirmation. |
| Boosting | Case-by-case | IP logs proving solo play, rank progression graphs. Explanation of IP discrepancies in case of traveling. |
Evidence Checklist Before You Appeal
- System-scan PDF – Antivirus full report.
- Match ID & replay clip – for the flagged game.
- IP login history – explain if you were traveling or playing from a different place, as well as any VPN usage.
- 2FA enabled screenshot – if hacked. Show any other supporting evidence in this regard, any failed login attempts or unauthorized password / account details changes.
How to Submit a CoD Ban Appeal (Activision Support)
In order to get unbanned from any Call of Duty game, you must submit a ban appeal via Activision’s Support Center (not Blizzard). Blizzard cannot help with any CoD bans.
Process updated on June 22, 2025
- Go to their official Activision Support page;
Log into your Activision account, then scroll down and click on “Continue”;
- You’ll now be met with a prompt regarding the appeal process;
Click on “Agree and Continue”;
- Write your CoD ban appeal (within the 1000 character limit);
State the nature of your ban, provide evidence, explain any context (such as “shadowbanned after mass reports”). Keep it under 1 000 characters and factual.
Now that everything is done, simply press “Submit my appeal”, and your ban appeal will be sent to their Support! Make sure to keep an eye on your e-mail, as that’s where you’re going to receive the answer.
And, since we’re at it, let’s see how to get in touch with Activision Support should you face a different issue!
How to Contact CoD or Warzone Support
If you’re facing a different account issue, here’s how to contact Activision Support:
- go to their Support options page and log into your Activision account;
- select CoD BO 6 (or any other game you’re having issues with);
- choose the platform you’re playing on (such as Battle.net for Windows);
- click on “Activision Account”;
- locate and click on your issue (such as “I can’t unlink an account”);
- scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “Submit a ticket”;
- fill in your issue then press “Submit”.
Helpful Tips Before You Click “Submit”
- Avoid multiple tickets. Every new submission resets the queue.
- Reference Season & patch. Mention if ban occurred right after a particular patch or Season update, etc.
- Don’t format text in ALL CAPS. It triggers auto-spam filters.
- No blame-shifting. Own any mistakes; a bad or disrespectful tone kills appeals.
CoD Ban Related FAQ
Activision rarely issues temporary suspensions. Thus, it’s safe to say that unless the duration is specified in the email, your CoD ban is permanent.
Activision doesn’t ban for VPN alone, but IP jumps can trigger shadowbans. Explain any travel or VPN use in your appeal.
CoD shadowbans can last from 2 to 14 days. This type of ban can also be appealed, just like you would an account ban.
You can, but if your hardware is flagged, the new account risks an instant ban as well. It’s safer to clear the original ban (by successfully appealing it).
Average reply is 3 business days. Shadowban reviews can resolve in 24 h, cheating appeals may run for weeks.
Yes, if voice/text logs show no slurs or threats. Provide full context; hate-speech slurs are almost never forgiven though.
Our research team can draft a tailored CoD unban letter based on your match data and history!
Get Unbanned!
Comments 19
Account was banned. Didn’t cheat or use thrid party software. I play on pc and apond launching the game one night my internet went out and I was forced to restart my pc and when trying to launch cod again I got the permanently banned message.
Hi i got banned and i dont know why they banned me… im only newbie and have a lvl54… i didnt do anything…
Author
Really sorry to hear that happened to you! Please feel free to get in touch should you wish to discuss your case further. 🙂
Hi Unbanster are you still around?
Author
Heya! Yup, we’re here! 🙂
I got banned for literally nothing , i play on ps4 and dont use anything as of cheats or none of that
well got perma banned same problems few crashes then next thing I know banned
I bought a used pc and im assuming it has a hardware ban on it because the computer has had a reset and my cod account wont find a match and stays at 350ms ping
I got perm banned on bo6 on Thursday and I wasn’t cheating or anything. I loaded up a match than instantly kicked out and said this account is permanently banned
I’m a console player, been a cod fan since 2008. Never used any tools or software to improve my aiming or any type of hack in general. I just don’t get it!
I went on vacation for a week and I come back to being banned. What should I do?
I haven’t played in over 3 weeks I turn on war zone and it’s says I’m banned. Never cheated, never played on other platforms. I don’t know why
In The New MW2 That released on october 28th 2022 I was playing it last night and I was just playing the campaign and having fun I didnt hack or break any guidelines at all but I wake up this morning with a ban from the new mw2
I’m 55 years old, I played MW2 For 6 hours, Went to bed because I was tired, Got up the following morning and it said permanently banned. When I Send to the appeal In to find out why, They said it was unauthorized software use. I don’t even know what that means. I know nothing about Computers. So here I set owning a game I can’t play.
exactly the same mate , its rediculous
I got perma banned the other day when I tried to appeal it it said I used unauthorized software or altered data files I play on console. How can I even do that?
My buddies pc crashed when we started a match and once his pc was back up I asked him to send me his mini dump to investigate his crash with windows debugger. I believe we both had the game open and since then we haven’t been able to queue in a game. We checked our activision accounts and both seem to be under review even though none of us ran any malicious software?
Author
Heya! The crash itself (or whatever caused the crash) might’ve triggered a false positive within the game’s anti-cheating system. Nonetheless, they should overturn the ban once they confirm it wasn’t related to any rule breaking.
Hello I have been permanantley banned for unauthorized software and manipulation of game data in Call of Duty. I only use an Xbox