The short answer is NO you can NOT get shadowbanned for using a VPN.
It is NOT against the call of duty – security and enforcement policy to use a VPN.
https://support.activision.com/articles/call-of-duty-security-and-enforcement-policy
What is a shadow ban in Warzone / Warzone 2?
Call of Duty: Warzone 2 is a free-to-play game and this means the game is constantly fighting to stop cheaters, and shadowbans are one of the tools used to deal with hackers. Here’s what a shadow ban means and how you can tell if you’re shadow banned in Warzone 1 or Warzone 2.
Warzone 2 players will agree that there’s nothing worse than dropping into a game looking for a win or to rack up kills, only to find yourself up against a cheater. Whether it’s a wallhacker or aimboter, you just know the lobby has been ruined.
While the RICOCHET anti-cheat and its kernel-level drivers include several counter measures to combat Warzone 2 cheaters such as detecting Cronus, turning enemies invisible, removing players weapons, and nerfing hit damage, Activision still use shadow banning to help identify and isolate cheaters.
Here’s everything you need to know about shadow bans, how the system works and how you can find out if your account is shadow banned.
What does a shadow ban mean in Warzone 2?
It’s pretty easy to tell if you have been shadow banned in Warzone 1 and Warzone 2.
When a player is suspected of hacking and gets shadow banned in Warzone games, they are no longer able to play in normal lobbies and instead get grouped in lobbies with other suspected hackers while Activision reviews / checks their account.
While many real cheaters do get shadow banned, it doesn’t really mean that the player is 100% cheating. If a player gets reported a few times in a short period of time for performing particularly well, exploiting a camo glitch, or for any other reason, their account can get shadow banned.
Shadow bans usually last from 24 hours / 1 week, and once over, their account will either become un-shadow banned or permanently banned depending on the decision of Activision’s anti cheating department.
Sadly, because Warzone 2 is a free-to-play game, once a cheater figures out what has happened to him or her, they usually just make new accounts.
Can you get shadow banned in Warzone 2?
Yes, a clean, non cheating player can also get shadow banned in Warzone. Several streamers have been shadow banned and cleared, and it happens to regular players all of the time too. It’s really easy to get shadow banned when you play better than normal if a few players report you in game. You can find many videos on youtube and other video sharing websites covering the subject in more detail.
If you really have been cheating and get caught by richochet anti cheat then don’t expect the shadow ban to be lifted. Instead, your account will be permanently banned.
How to find out if you have been shadow banned in Warzone 1 or Warzone 2
If you think you have been shadow banned, the first obvious sign is that when you are searching for a match your ping will go all the way up to 200 ms, and it will take much longer than usual to find a match. When you eventually get into a game, it will be laggy and may have more cheaters than a normal lobby.
If you believe you’ve been shadow banned, you can head to the Ban Appeal section of Activision Support.
Here’s everything you need to do:
Open the
Appeal A Ban page on the Activision website.
Log in to your Activision account.
Press the ‘agree and continue’ button.
The next screen will let you know you if there is no ban detected, or if your account is under review, or if your account is permanently banned.
If you believe you’ve been shadow banned incorrectly, it’s mostly just a case of waiting a day or two at most. Once Activision have looked into your account and made a decision, you can either continue playing as normal or your account will be banned and you wll need to submit an appeal.
You can read some reddit posts about the shadow ban issue or watch some youtube videos on the subject below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac4psB3nbSQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d3uf-Y4_gg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhM-laCNO54
https://www.reddit.com/r/CODWarzone/comments/115b2je/shadow_banned_twice_in_a_week_both_times_unbanned/
https://www.reddit.com/r/CODWarzone/comments/t73x2a/the_shadow_ban_system_needs_to_go/
https://www.reddit.com/r/CODWarzone/comments/1158fk6/searching_for_a_match_forever_is_this_a_shadow/
https://www.reddit.com/r/CODWarzone/comments/10vjqi3/getting_kicked_when_i_make_10_kills_shadow_ban/
The bottom line is don’t cheat and you will be fine, you could get shadow banned by being reported or by activiating an old account and various other metrics. However if you never cheated then you will be un shadow banned very quickly and return to normal play as quicly as possible.
