What happens to GTA Online players who get banned?

Since 2016, Rockstar Games has implemented rigorous rules and policies regarding banning players from GTA Online.

According to them, players can get banned for several factors, including modding in GTA Online, exploiting or abusing game mechanics, manipulating protected game data and code, or interfering with other players' gameplay experience.

But there are still instances where players have gotten banned for seemingly no apparent reason or for mistakes that appear minuscule compared to other problems plaguing the game.

While most players will not experience this, it is still important to understand what will happen to them if they get banned.

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Things that happen after GTA Online players get banned

Temporary suspension

If players are found breaking the rules and policies of Grand Theft Auto Online, they won't get permanently banned outright, as their account will be first hit with a temporary suspension.

The temporary suspension lasts for a few days or months, depending upon the severity of what the player has done. Most of the time, players get a 30-day ban.

But the most wretched part about this temporary suspension is that Rockstar Games will reset all of the progress, items, and properties that players have with the character they got suspended with, except for shark cards they bought. So when the ban gets lifted, they essentially have to start again from scratch.

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Permanent ban

After receiving a temporary suspension, players only get one chance not to break any other rules and policies again. But if they do break them again, their account will get banned permanently.

It should also be noted that players can also get a direct permanent ban without getting a temporary suspension first, depending on the severity of their infraction.

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Appeals

In GTA Online, all suspension and banning decisions are final and cannot be appealed.

As a result, most GTA Online players should expect Rockstar to make no changes to their decision. The only thing banned players can do is create new accounts, but their original accounts will be lost forever.

If players still think that what happened to them was unjust, they can still appeal, but their chances of getting their accounts back are bleak. They can still try doing that if they actually have proof that they did not do anything wrong. Unfortunately, the majority of the time, that is not the case.

Getting banned is not an ideal scenario to experience in GTA Online. But if most players avoid doing anything wrong, they don't have to be constantly worried about getting banned.

Moreover, these rules and policies help keep modders away from the game and prevent GTA Online from becoming a cesspool filled with cheaters and griefers that are constantly hindering everyone else's progress.

Following the rules is just a small price to pay for the greater good of the community.