What Happens When You Get Banned On Xbox?

*This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

When you make an Xbox Live account then you agree to the Microsoft Service Agreement and the Community Standards for Xbox Live. So if another user reports you for violating the rules then an investigation will be carried out to verify the accusation and determine if any kind of punishment is necessary.

There are a lot of things you can get banned on Xbox such as account tampering, phishing, impersonation, marketplace theft, account theft, having offensive Gamertags, solicitation, repeated violations of the rules, and many more. 

What happens when you get banned depends on what type of ban that you received.

• If you get a communications ban then you will not be able to communicate on your Xbox Live until the ban is lifted.
• If you get an account ban then your account is permanently banned and you will lose everything on that account.
• If you get a console ban then you will not be able to use that console to access anything on Xbox Live ever again with that console! 

As you can see what happens when your console is banned can vary quite a bit from just a slap on the wrist being unable to message or communicate to losing access to your account or your console’s ability to access the Xbox network.

No matter which ban you receive it always has to do with the online portion of your console. No matter what you can still play games locally on your device such as games that are downloaded or that you have purchased the physical game for. 

In the rest of this article we will go into more depth about the different types of bans and suspension as well as exactly what you can expect if your account or console gets banned. 

Are you a huge Xbox fan? Then you have to check out this amazing Xbox gear and decor. Whether you want an Xbox-styled wallet, a sweatshirt, or a pair of Xbox socks there are plenty of choices to choose from. You can find them all by clicking here.

Types Of Xbox Suspensions And Bans

What happens to your account and Xbox device when you get banned depends on the reason for the ban and the type of the ban. Below we will discuss the different kind of bans you can get and the punishments that you will receive as the result of the ban. 

Temporary Suspensions

These suspensions are levied on your Xbox console and any devices which connect to Xbox Live. If the people in charge of maintaining the code of conduct find you flouting a specific feature on Xbox Live then you will get banned from your profile temporarily.

This will prevent you from using that feature. An example of this type of suspension means you won’t be able to join parties, share Kinect content, create game DVR, upload screenshots, communicate with other players online, etc. 

This type of ban is also commonly referred to as a communications ban as it temporarily bans you from doing anything related to the communication side of Xbox Live. 

With this suspension/ban you will still be able to make use of the Xbox Live service and other apps and features during this ban period. The length of this suspension depends on nature as well as the severity of the violation.

The enforcers will also take into account if it’s a repeated violation.

Account Ban

As the name says this kind of ban means that your profile won’t be able to access Xbox Live in any way at all. This kind of ban can be given due to a severe violation of any kind.

If any attempt to correct such behavior doesn’t work then there might be a more severe device ban. When you get this type of ban you will not only lose access to all of the achievements on the account but any subscriptions on the account will also be forfeited., 

You can create a new account with this type of ban but you will have to start all over with achievements as well as pay again for all of the subscriptions and games that you had on your other account.

Gamertag Bans

It is important to know that Microsoft doesn’t tolerate sexist, racist or other kinds of offensive language in the Xbox Gamertags. If you are thinking of having one then get ready to face a ban. You will normally be able to get a chance to change your Gamertag if it does get reported.

If you decide to fall in line and change the Gamertag then you will be fine. But if you don’t comply then your Gamertag will get banned.

Xbox Live Device Bans

A device ban will prevent an Xbox console or device from accessing Xbox Live at all permanently. You can get this kind of ban as a result of modding your Xbox system or attempting some kind of online fraud.

You can also get this ban by repeatedly getting account bans as well.  

This is the most severe type of ban and it is only used in the worst of cases or for serious repeat offenders. If you get a device or console ban then you will have to purchase a new console to be able to access Xbox Live again as this type of ban is never lifted no matter what!

Game Specific Bans

Game developers will often make their own game-specific security measures that are built into the game. These measures and policies work independently of Xbox. So since every game is different what is and is not allowed can vary as well.

Most of the time a game ban is done because of constant issues with cheating, modding, or other similar things. Game will often have a hard time proving that you are cheating but if you post that you are using a mod or something like that then you can expect to be banned from the game! 

Consequences Of Being Banned On Xbox

If you get banned on your Xbox there will be some consequences of that ban or suspension. But what could happen when you get banned or suspended on Xbox?

No Refunds

If you get banned from Xbox Live for not following the community standards then you won’t be able to get a refund for any of your subscriptions.

Loss Of Services

If you pay for any of the extra services you use on Xbox Live then you will no longer be able to access them via your Xbox. The money you invested on Netflix and Hulu will be wasted since you won’t be able to make use of the service without some other way of accessing the internet and watching them.

You could of course still use these types of services on other platforms but you then have the additional cost of buying a Roku, Firestick, Apple TV, etc.

Loss Of Digital Content

Know that if your Gamertags are banned then you will lose all of your digital content. The only exception to this is a console ban.

This means that only the console itself gets banned from online but the Gamertag remains unaffected.

When you get banned, you will lose all the digital content you have purchased over the lifetime of the account. Of course, you will have to buy another physical Xbox and another Xbox Live membership if you want to continue being in the community and continue playing games.

But on top of shelling out multiple hundreds of dollars for the new equipment, you will also have to pay up some serious money to get the DLCs and everything else that you lost because of the ban. So even though you legally paid for all the games and DLCs you still won’t be able to access them in case of a ban since when you violated the terms of service.

All those dollars that you spent will be down the drain. 

You will begin at Level O again and this is probably the part which irks gamers the most. You will find that after you have come out of the kind of ban imposed on you, all the hours you put in will be lost.

Conclusion

Always remember that you can get a ban for anything that you do that violates the community standards or the terms of service. Xbox will normally give you three strikes of the lesser communications ban and then three account bans before they will ban your console entirely although in more serious cases they are certainly within their rights to immediately ban your console. 

The only way to prevent a huge loss of money and time is to strictly follow the rules and regulations that Microsoft has put in place for playing on their network. If you don’t then get ready to fork out more money for new equipment, subscriptions, and digital content.