Got banned. It happens. Here's how to recover so you can get back to playing quickly, without the ban following you into your next account.

First, understand what got banned

Every ban targets one or more of three layers.

1. The game account - just this specific in-game account, tied to your Steam/Epic/publisher login.
2. The hardware (HWID) - some anti-cheats (EAC/BE/VGK/ESEA/FACE-IT) log your motherboard, CPU, disk serials, and more. Any new account on that PC gets banned once you play.
3. The IP address - mostly on game servers or public platforms.

If you had a suffcient HWID spoofer running at the time of the ban, layer 2 usually isn't a problem. The anti-cheat logged spoofed serials, not your real ones.

The recovery

Do these in order.

1. Get a new game account

• Buy or make a fresh Steam/Epic/Riot/whatever account.
• Don't reuse the same email or phone number as the banned account. Publishers link accounts through these all the time.

2. Reformat Windows

Handles anything a spoofer might miss - registry traces, files the anti-cheat left behind to fingerprint you later, etc.

• Do a clean install of Windows via USB, not the in-windows "Reset This PC" option.
• Use a fresh Windows ISO from Microsoft.
• Run the HWID spoofer before logging into your game after the install.

3. Change your IP address

• Dynamic IP: restart your router. Most home ISPs assign a new one.
• Static IP: contact your ISP for a change, or use a VPN.
• Verify at whatismyip.com before and after.

This matters most for game servers and public platforms that IP-ban. The game/anti-cheat itself usually doesn't bother.

4. Spoof your HWID

If the ban was a HWID, or you're getting instantly banned on fresh accounts, you need a HWID spoofer.

• We sell one - see the Shop.
• Spoofers change the hardware serials the anti-cheat reads, so your machine looks new.
• Run the spoofer before you log into the new account, every session.

Order for common scenarios

• HWID ban on a big game (Rust, Fortnite, etc.): new account + reformat + IP change + HWID spoofer.
• Game server ban (Rust community server, etc.): new account + IP change.

Prevention is cheaper than recovery

Not getting banned in the first place is easier and cheaper - see How to minimize your ban risk while cheating for the tips to keep you away from bans. It's always recommended to use a HWID Spoofer whilst cheating to prevent permanent HWID bans rather than using a spoofer after a ban - this way if you want to play legitimately on another account; you only need to change your IP.