Halo Infinite: Why you got banned and how to appeal a ban

Halo Infinite players may sometimes get a strange User is banned alert out of the blue. Prior to this alert, you may also get another error that says the game was unable to connect to the fire team.

Getting banned for seemingly no reason or for simply trying to connect to a match can be really frustrating. Let’s explore what could be causing this issue and how you can fix it.

Why am I banned from Halo Infinite?

If you leave a Halo Infinite match before it ends, you’ll get banned. This applies to both ranked and non-ranked matches. Halo bans players for quitting non-ranked matches as well.

Unfortunately, Halo Infinite issues bans irrespective of players leaving the match voluntarily or due to technical issues. If you kill yourself, you’ll also get banned.

Halo Infinite: At least one player in your fireteam is banned

The alert that reads “At least one player in your fireteam is banned” means that you or one of your teammates have been banned from playing Halo Infinite.

If you or any fireteam members have a ban, wait until the ban is lifted and then try to play the game again.

What can get me banned from Halo Infinite?

The following actions can get you banned from Halo Infinite:

Frequently quitting matches
Excessive idling through games
Dodging matches
Suiciding
Attempting to manipulate playlist ranking, matchmaking
Network manipulation
Violating the Terms of Use and licensing agreement
Impersonating 343 Industries employees
Representing yourself as a player other than yourself
Filing false reports against other players
Creating new accounts to bypass active bans

How long is the ban time for Halo Infinite?

Ban time in Halo Infinite varies depending on the number of previous bans and increases with each new ban. The first ban has a total ban time of five minutes. The fourth ban keeps you away from Halo Infinite for 6 hours.

Two consecutive bans will bring you a 16-hour ban time.

List of Halo Infinite ban times

First ban: 5 minutes
Second ban: 15 minutes
Third ban: 30 minutes
Fourth ban: 6 hours
Fifth ban: 16 Hours
Sixth ban: 24 hours
Seventh ban: 48 hours (as noticed by players)
Consecutive bans: 16 hours

After abandoning two matches, Halo Infinite’s ban system activates automatically and waits for you to quit the third match.

After leaving the game three times, you’ll get your first ban which lasts for 5 minutes.

It seems that after the seventh ban, ban time jumps to 48 hours. However, this information has not been officially confirmed yet.

It’s just something that users noticed.

It seems that the ban count doesn’t reset. This means that each additional ban triggers longer ban times.

Unfortunately, Halo Infinite doesn’t give you any sort of timer.

Halo Infinite banned me for leaving matches

Halo Infinite’s ban system is severely flawed. Sometimes, players can experience various technical issues that are beyond their control. For instance, server issues may cause players to leave multiple games over a short period.

Halo Infinite banned me after the game crashed

If your computer fails to load the game properly, or suddenly freezes and crashes, Halo’s servers count these events as abandoning the match.

This means that players can get banned over technical glitches and errors that are beyond their control.

How to avoid Halo Infinite’s auto-ban system

Play the whole match to the end

It doesn’t matter if all your teammates are dead or they voluntarily left the match. Keep on playing the match to the end.

Also, try to avoid quitting non-ranked matches to find CTF matches and complete the Fiesta challenge.

I just got banned for quitting non-ranked matches to find CTF matches for the stupid challenge.

Don’t kill yourself

Don’t try to kill yourself on Fiesta to unlock the sniper.

I just tried killing myself over and over on fiesta to get the sniper for the lame challenges , got banned.

How to appeal a Halo Infinite ban

If you consider the ban was wrongfully applied, you can file an appeal. A Halo Safety agent will review your case and then approve or decline your appeal.

Go to Halo Support and log into your account
Open any support article
Scroll down to “Was this article helpful?”
Hit the Submit a ticket button
When choosing the issue type, select Enforcement – Ban Appeal
Provide Halo Support with all the necessary information
Submit the ticket

Conclusion

If you abandon a match before it ends or kill yourself, you’ll get banned. Unfortunately, Halo Infinite doesn’t draw any distinction between voluntarily leaving matches and abandoning matches due to technical issues.

References:

Note: This guide was updated in May 2023.