Halo Infinite players have been reporting bans quite commonly across the community. What causes a ban, and if unfair, how can you appeal a ban?
Halo Infinite, however fabulous, is not immune to cheating. This means that, of course, sometimes people will be banned unfairly at times. Unlike a game like Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Vanguard, the situation is not at the stage where 343 Industries need to dedicate an entire studio to an anti-cheat engine (that didn't really work anyway), but it is important for us to lay out a few things for you.
The operative questions here are two-fold: what causes a player to be banned from Halo Infinite, and how do you appeal a ban? Both of these questions will be answered in this article. It'll be something you'll want to learn about so that you can make sure to get in on the action in the upcoming "Tactical Ops" event, let alone the game's second season of multiplayer content in May.
Bans are a tricky subject, and are something that is difficult to get right in a free-to-play game like Halo Infinite's multiplayer. On the first point, no one wants to be banned, and that especially goes when they feel that it's unjust. To get the levels right for when a player should be banned, and get the automation to be accurate enough, is a difficult task. On the second point, anyone can make a new account on a free-to-play game, so the question is still out on whether bans are even an effective treatment anyway.
Why Did I Get Banned In Halo Infinite?
Unless you are actively cheating, it is likely that you have been banned for leaving a Halo Infinite match before it ends. Due to the system that 343 Industries have implemented, this will also apply to a game that has had an internet-related disconnect. It won't always happen, but you quit matches early relatively frequently, and you will almost be guaranteeing yourself a ban.
Bans of this type apply to both ranked and non-ranked play, and also get applied if you kill yourself in-game. Ban-times depend on the number of times you have committed an "offense", with the times appreciating after each incident. We will cover that in a minute, but here is a more detailed list of offenses/violations:
Other Offenses/Violations that may get you banned in Halo Infinite
- Consistent and long-winded idling
- Match dodging
- Manipulating ranking and matchmaking
- Violation of any component of the game's terms of use and licensing rules
- Manipulating networks
- Suiciding in-game
- Impersonating 343 Industries employees/mods
- Cheating
- Creating new accounts to get around a previous ban
- Reporting other players out of spite, and not due to a legitimate complaint
- Pretending to be someone you are not
How Long Are Halo Infinite Auto-Bans?
Following are the complete list of known auto-bans, each relating to the offenses listed above. Keep in mind that these might not be entirely accurate because if things get really bad, you may have a permaban on your hands. Please try to avoid that!
| Ban Number | Amount of Time |
| 1 | 5 Minutes |
| 2 | 15 Minutes |
| 3 | 30 Minutes |
| 4 | 6 Hours |
| 5 | 16 Hours |
| 6 | 24 Hours |
| 7 | 48 Hours |
How To Appeal A Ban In Halo Infinite
To appeal a Halo Infinite ban, you need to first have a Halo Waypoint account, which is then linked to your in-game Halo account or Microsoft account. After making sure that you have these things, follow these steps to appeal a ban.
Go To Halo Waypoint
Go to Halo Waypoint and login. This is basically the game's portal for all customer-relations. They also place press releases and all sorts of Halo Infinite-related news updates here.
Thank you to all #HaloInfinite players who have shared feedback and submitted tickets about shot registration and other network-related issues. Read the development team's in-depth analysis of these issues and their plans for future mitigations: https://t.co/q17rG9c68V
— Halo Support (@HaloSupport) February 10, 2022
Open A Support Article And Select "Was this Article Helpful"
Once you have opened a support article in Halo Waypoint, you need to scroll down to the bottom of the page. It will say "Was this article helpful" and there should be a button labelled "Submit a Ticket". Click on it.
Choose "Enforcement - Ban Appeal" And Submit A Ticket
Once in the "Submit a Ticket" section, you need to select the issue type "Enforcement - Ban Appeal" and then fill out all the required information. Submit the ticket, and then you will need to wait and see how they respond.
Halo Infinite is an excellent game, so you really don't want to find yourself with an accidental ban. For full information on how to appeal a ban, you should check out 343 Industries' explainer on Halo Waypoint. You probably don't need to, though, because we're just so bloody good at explaining things. Right? Right? Good luck.