**META** Server busy or offline issues

[fe-ax]

Edited by moderator:

Please keep all discussions about Server busy or offline in this issue only, do not create new issues or they will be closed without warning.

At this stage it's unconfirmed if there is server issues or hard bans being placed on accounts

Other current META issues:

#3682 - META Server busy or offline issues
#3308 - META Stuck between two forts / Moving to 2 forts at the same time / Constant Loop
#3700 - META Soft bans - Try again spins / Pokemon vanishing
#3746 - META Banwaves - Permanent Bans

[fe-ax]

Hope someone can verify

[k4n30]

The server is busy or offline in your location, this is not a bot issue

[TheSegfault]

@k4n30 I got an account boting in the exact same area that can get connected without issue

But still, United States 610ms + Google Login 936ms, reallllly slow, so this may be the problem

[TheSegfault]

@liwenzhuo1216 Me too, I don't have explaination, phone said server busy too when trying to log, It is like Niantic only provide service for specific accounts when it "overload" and cut the others.

[TheSegfault]

@liwenzhuo1216 haha, If you are afraid of permanent ban, don't bot ^^ Are you guys boting in the US server too ?

[fe-ax]

@k4n30 if you had read my post, another bot, same server, same code, same location can log in and work like expected, if i only change credentials it says server busy

[xiaoxin628]

@marco208 What's the other bot's name? I would like to verify because I got the same issue.

[TheSegfault]

@marco208 The US server is actually overloaded so my theory is that Niantic is cutting the access on specific critiria to avoid a server crash.

http://www.mmoserverstatus.com/pokemon_go

[xiaoxin628]

I have three bots running, one of them got disconnected and reported the server is busy. The other two running well but they are just walking and can gain experience from the pokestops. I think the login api got broken or something.

[fe-ax]

@xiaoxin628 just another google account

[xiaoxin628]

NZ servers are busy as well currently.

[xiaoxin628]

@marco208 should be just about API rather than the bot.

[lightyoruichi]

Malaysian server showing same error as well.

[fe-ax]

@TheSegfault weird, will try to bring bot back to home in europe in a couple of hours. Most likely it's just a permanent ban

[snesevermore]

I'm experiencing server issues as well, on the app and the bot. When I log in via app, get something like "we are overwhelmed by your response. trying to correct the problem"

So maybe they've got a bit of downtime going (and another code change could be coming down the pipe).

[TheSegfault]

You guys are all talking about permanent ban, their is no permanent ban reported in any thread on reddit or whatever and believe me, people using ownedcore bots will be banned much faster than us on PokemonGoF ^^ Stop missleading about permanent ban plz, keep your anguish for yourself and stop creating a panic movement about perma ban ^^

[xiaoxin628]

@marco208 It seems not, my running bot just got a Pokemon. It running well but just cannot log in once disconnected.

[xiaoxin628]

@TheSegfault Right, I'll stop here.

[fe-ax]

@TheSegfault what else would block a bot when the only difference (same server, code, ip) is account information in config file?

[TheSegfault]

@marco208 Well, during a hunting with my girlfriend during like Mid July, I couldn't connect and she could, at the same moment, and i wasn't boting at all at this moment. So I believe their is something server side that is blocking people during an overload. That's just my opinion

[fe-ax]

@TheSegfault let's hope so

[PlanetoftheMapes]

Looking at different sources, I only see reports from bot repositories. I haven't used the bot on my account for the last day and I'm still receiving this message on my account via my phone. It appears to be a potential perma ban.

I think people should prepare for the worst.

[PlanetoftheMapes]

I may nut up and email niantic playing dumb and see what they say.

[loiluu]

Singapore got the same error!!

[BonJaZu]

Check server status. A lot of issues going on. Just be patient and wait it out.

[TheSegfault]

Yeah don't start the Perma ban apocalypse plz 👍

[BonJaZu]

[PlanetoftheMapes]

I'm sure I'll get down voted for saying it, but it sure seems for be an account ban. I logged in from a different device on the same IP address with a completely clean, never botted account and it's working completely like normal. Only the bot account is affected. I'm crossing my fingers but it seems obvious what happened..

[TheSegfault]

He started the perma ban apocalypse....

[TheSegfault]

@liwenzhuo1216 NO I DON'T XD

[maxprzemo]

@z4ppy
New ptc account.
"walk": 3.80, "action_wait_min": 1, "action_wait_max": 5
and
"catch_randomize_reticle_factor": 0.0,
"catch_randomize_spin_factor": 0.0,

Not banned by the hour. The old account is still banned.
I have not changed IP address and location.

[k4n30]

From PokemonGoDev Team:

Due to the large influx of people claiming problems with their accounts and devices, we'd like you to fill out this Google Form: https://goo.gl/forms/tjilsa8OApcjuhj82

This will help us try to pinpoint where and why the problem is happening, try to find a pattern in the problem and maybe find a solution if one exists. To see the results of this pool, you can either click See results on the Google Form once finished or by following this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScNVX6a5AkVGxyNo3kmiNIG3lHeI3dFXLa_E0F0yCOhL7C4dA/viewanalytics?usp=form_confirm

If you wish to see the answers directly, go here to see the Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Xq_W1mDxrQ8k1lXA-idv7029eOsY8PUsGcrTCrYySrE/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you

[DmitryStolyarow]

some thoughts:

• can this problem be related to encrypt.so? i put my .so to app directory from internet. my wife after making git clear -df probably built it from source
• this problem happened only with users who made in-app purchases or not? i paid for coins and extended pokemon storage and bug. my bot is safe. wife's bot is banned. both of us starting bot from the same IP-address
• high walking speed shouldn't be an issue. 2 bots were running on speed below 12. just one of them banned
• softbans should not be a possible problem too. i got 2 softbans previously, but my bot is safe. my wife had no softbans on her bot - but she bot got permanent ban
• i run bot from f83e767 ; wife run bot from one of ( b8ea368 or ac07ad3 )

[g2384]

@DmitryStolyarow please describe how you know an account is perma-banned

[snesevermore]

https://support.pokemongo.nianticlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/225146308-Submit-a-ban-appeal
Your account was permanently terminated for violations of the Pokémon GO Terms of Service. This includes, but is not limited to: falsifying your location, using emulators, modified or unofficial software and/or accessing Pokémon GO clients or backends in an unauthorized manner including through the use of third party software.

Our goal is to provide a fair, fun and legitimate game experience for everyone. We will continue to work with all of you to improve the quality of the gameplay, including ongoing optimization and fine tuning of our anti-cheat system. If you believe your account has been terminated in error incorrectly, you can appeal that termination through this form. For privacy reasons, please do not post appeals on social media.

Don't know how long this ban appeal page has been around, but it suggests to me that they would have an official message on a genuine hard ban.

It's possible they're disabling access for those who have spent a lot of time on the game recently. No data, but it's entirely possible that's what they'd do in case of high server load.

[DmitryStolyarow]

@g2384

• me and wife running bots being connected to the same wifi.
• both of us were running bot from xp-improvements branch. after upgrade to newest dev branch my bot worked as expected, but wife's bot got "busy or offline error message" as output
• our guilty accounts are unaffected by this problem
• check server status says that server works fine in our country
• can't login to https://pokeiv.net (1st time i tried to login i got: "An error has occurred. ID, please try again after confirming the password or code at some time.", 2nd time: "An error has occurred.")

[jokoast]

Is it possible to unban with the form https://support.pokemongo.nianticlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/225146308-Submit-a-ban-appeal and try in a way to get our accounts back ?

Like "I tried for a couple of days to see and i'm banned, could i have my account back if i never use one again ? :''( " LMAO.

EDIT : Still banned on my main account but my other accounts are "safe" for now.

[snesevermore]

@jokoast Give it a few days before you do anything. If it's really nothing, you will declare your guilt, but if it's something real they'll likely have developed a system to get people playing (and paying for) the game again.

Me, I'm actually a bit glad I have a reason to walk away for a while (or forever, as the case may be).

[PlanetoftheMapes]

@snesevermore I kind of feel the same way. After the trackers came down all my friends stopped playing and I've only been playing periodically due to the bot making it interesting. Since it seems like they have no intention of adding a proper tracker (they're doing images of where they were "spotted" to create a scavenger hunt sort of dynamic, which I think is lame), I am probably going to just request a refund of my in app purchases from Apple and walk away.

[jokoast]

Yeah, i think i'll just make new accounts and bot on it just to have an
account able to play and try different configs and different PR but i won't
play like i played.

2016-08-12 19:07 GMT+02:00 Chris Mapes notifications@github.com:

@snesevermore https://github.com/snesevermore I kind of feel the same
way. After the trackers came down all my friends stopped playing and I've
only been playing periodically due to the bot making it interesting. Since
it seems like they have no intention of adding a proper tracker (they're
doing images of where they were "spotted" to create a scavenger hunt sort
of dynamic, which I think is lame), I am probably going to just request a
refund of my in app purchases from Apple and walk away.

—
You are receiving this because you were mentioned.
Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub
#3682 (comment),
or mute the thread
https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AIxyjDISJwZcIDfuTwQqSi9avuhv-FfEks5qfKg-gaJpZM4Jiw64
.

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[imvikash00]

Even I have started getting "Failed to retrieve data" but the pokemons I have kept at few gyms are still present and showing my username. So that means they haven't deleted it completely

[DmitryStolyarow]

my bot has been banned too. bb 30rd level :(

[jokoast]

Some things are strange right now ... The bot cannot detect softban and doesn't handle it (before it did it), the pokestops are allways out of range and all pokemons vanished (on fresh new account to bot).

[chyan26]

I have two accounts run with bots. However, only one account gets "Server seems to be busy or offline - try again" errors. I used this account to engage gym battles, then got a ban. The other one is still fine. I learned a possible test from web. Create a new account and name the new character with a nickname the same as banned one. If system allows, your old account maybe banned permanently. But, no one confirms that yet.

[fosspill]

Hmm, I started a new account after my previous one was banned and now it took ~24 hours (of maybe 8 hours total botting) to get banned with the most recent bot here...

[jokoast]

Arf ... I made a new one, ~12 hours botting with random spin factor and no ban yet. Gonna give it a try.

[cypha88]

@jokoast still going strong? My main account just got banned after being safe from the initial wave. If your script works, mind sharing the .json?

[jokoast]

Still good. ~10 hours hard botting, no ban yet.

Nothing magical about my config but here it is :

{
    "auth_service": "XXXX",   
    "location": "-33.812093, 151.296915",
    "gmapkey": "XXXX",
    "username": "XXXX",
    "password": "XXXX",
    "tasks": [
        {
            "type": "HandleSoftBan"
        },
        {
            "type": "RecycleItems",
            "config": {
                "item_filter": {
                    "Pokeball": {
                        "keep": 100
                    },
                    "Greatball": {
                        "keep": 100
                    },
                    "Ultraball": {
                        "keep": 100
                    },
                    "Masterball": {
                        "keep": 0
                    },
                    "Razz Berry": {
                        "keep": 50
                    },
                    "Potion": {
                        "keep": 0
                    },
                    "Super Potion": {
                        "keep": 0
                    },
                    "Hyper Potion": {
                        "keep": 0
                    },
                    "Max Potion": {
                        "keep": 0
                    },
                    "Revive": {
                        "keep": 0
                    },
                    "Max Revive": {
                        "keep": 0
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "CollectLevelUpReward"
        },
        {
            "type": "IncubateEggs",
            "config": {
                "longer_eggs_first": false
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "CatchVisiblePokemon"
        },
        {
            "type": "CatchLuredPokemon"
        },
        {
            "type": "TransferPokemon"
        },
        {
            "type": "SpinFort"
        },
        {
            "type": "MoveToFort"
        }
    ],
    "map_object_cache_time": 5,
    "forts": {
        "avoid_circles": true,
        "max_circle_size": 100
    },
    "websocket_server": false,
    "walk": 80,
    "action_wait_min": 0,
    "action_wait_max": 1,
    "debug": false,
    "test": false,
    "health_record": true,
    "location_cache": false,
    "distance_unit": "km",
    "reconnecting_timeout": 15,
    "evolve_captured": "Pidgey,Rattata,Zubat,Weedle,Drowzee,Spearow",
    "catch_randomize_reticle_factor": 0.6,
    "catch_randomize_spin_factor": 0.6,
    "catch": {
        "any": {
            "catch_above_cp": 0,
            "catch_above_iv": 0.8,
            "logic": "and"
        }
    },
    "vips" : {
        "any": {
            "catch_above_cp": 800,
            "catch_above_iv": 0,
            "logic": "or"
        },
        "Lapras": {},
        "Moltres": {},
        "Zapdos": {},
        "Articuno": {},
        "Mewtwo": {},
        "Dragonite": {},
        "Snorlax": {},
        "Mew": {},
        "Arcanine": {},
        "Vaporeon": {},
        "Gyarados": {},
        "Exeggutor": {},
        "Muk": {},
        "Weezing": {},
        "Flareon": {}
    }
}

Sydney location (Magikarp :D) , European servers.

UPDATE : I just pulled the last version and

2016-08-14 12:43:35,864 [MoveToFort] [INFO] [moving_to_fort] Moving towards pokestop Brett 'Mon' Garling - 0.07km
2016-08-14 12:43:36,181 [MoveToFort] [INFO] [arrived_at_fort] Arrived at fort.
2016-08-14 12:43:38,389 [MoveToFort] [INFO] [moving_to_fort] Moving towards pokestop Sergeants' Mess - 0.07km
2016-08-14 12:43:38,669 [MoveToFort] [INFO] [arrived_at_fort] Arrived at fort.

--' i don't understand what happens now ...

[Dropbear67]

I seem to have been permanently banned immediately after trying a gym battle with my bot account. Not really into battling but thought I'd give it a go.

[Euphoreka7]

my first bot is banned (a few gym battles).
my 2nd bot isn't banned (no gym battles). some time later i'll try to fight in a gym to confirm or refure this theory

[PlanetoftheMapes]

Just in case anyone is curious, Niantic replied with a generic "reset your phone, reinstall app, log in again, bla bla bla" type of email. So just a canned email. I wasn't sure what to expect, but this sound about what you'd expect.

[fosspill]

None of my banned accounts have touched a gym at all, so I doubt gyms are related sadly.

[k4n30]

Closing as discussion has died down if you wish to continue the discussion, please use the banreports channel in slack