How To Tell If You’ve Been Shadow Banned In Warzone 2

Finding yourself under a shadow ban, or any penalty in Warzone 2, is a sure-fire way to ruin your gaming plans. But how can you tell when you've been shadow banned?

By Alexandra Hobbs |

First Published May 22, 2023, 13:35

How To Tell If You’ve Been Shadow Banned In Warzone 2

Call of Duty has traditionally had an issue with cheaters, bans and general glitches in their online games. Warzone 2 has, unfortunately, been no different. Even from launch, players struggled with audio issues, lag, and other detrimental features that quickly soured the overall gaming experience.

But it's cheaters and hackers that Activision has been so desperately fighting, even going as far as to roll out their own anti-cheat software, named RICOCHET. While effective at times, with Warzone 2 being free-to-play there will always be cheaters attempting to ruin the fun just out of ease. But sometimes regular players end up getting caught in the crossfire, finding themselves inexplicably handed a ban.

Shadow banning can, and does, happen to regular players — streamers, too. If you've been playing clean and the ban is genuinely a mistake, then typically it doesn't take too long for it to be lifted. Of course, if you have been messing around with less legitimate methods of gameplay, then expect RICOCHET to keep that ban in place.

Sometimes it's not always clear when you've been hit with a shadow ban, and with it happening somewhat commonly to regular players then it pays to know how to tell when you've been affected.

Call of Duty on TwitterAn update from #TeamRICOCHET on our progress fighting against unfair play. Learn more: https://t.co/1YJD3sH0pk pic.twitter.com/aSeYbmjAUu— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) December 7, 2021Call of DutyTwitter

How Do You Know You've Been Shadow Banned in Warzone 2?

The most telling sign that you've been shadow banned in Warzone 2 is how long it takes you to find a match. You'll notice that it takes a lot longer than usual. On top of that, your ping will be hitting up to 200 when matchmaking.

When you do eventually find yourself in a match, you'll likely notice that it's extremely laggy. Perhaps you've even got a surprising amount of hackers in the game, too.

How To Appeal A Ban In Warzone 2

Players can appeal a ban if they feel it has been wrongly applied. (Picture: Activision)

There are steps to take if you believe you've been wrongly banned, such as appealing the ban to Activision. Players can head to Activision's Ban Appeal page and follow these steps:

Log in with your Activision account
Press ‘Agree and Continue’
The screen will inform you if there’s 'No Ban Detected,' your 'Account is Under Review', or 'Permanently Banned'

After appealing the ban, all you can do is simply wait for the outcome. Be aware that sometimes, if your account is 'Under Review' you might be sent a somewhat dismissive email saying, "After looking into your account, it appears that the account is currently under review by the Security Team. If infractions are found on the account during this period, it will result in a permanent ban. However, if no infractions are found, everything will return to normal. Since the decision was made by the Security Team, the Support Team does not have any information as to why this decision was made."

For more on Call of Duty: Warzone 2, check out be sure to check out our dedicated section and learn more with some of our Warzone 2 Guides & Tutorials below:

Warzone 2 Tier Lists - Best Weapons Tier List | Best Assault Rifles (AR) Tier List

Welcome back!

Your status: free member

Your status: Friend

Your status: Supporter

Your status: Super Fan

Your status: Producer

Your status: Producer (permanently whitelisted)

How To Tell If You’ve Been Shadow Banned In Warzone 2

How Do You Know You've Been Shadow Banned in Warzone 2?

How To Appeal A Ban In Warzone 2