Get information on EA Account locks, bans, and suspensions

Updated 3 days ago2 min read

Overview

Find out what locks, bans, and suspensions mean for your EA Account, why they happen, and what to do if you think there’s been a mistake. You’ll also learn how to access the Penalty History tool to check your account status and, in some cases, appeal the decision.

Table of Contents

Understanding locks, bans, and suspensions

  • Lock: When we notice too many failed login attempts or other suspicious activity, we’ll temporarily remove access to a game or your EA Account. We do this to protect your account from being accessed by anyone other than you. Learn more about what you can do if you’ve been locked out of your account.
  • Suspension: We’ll temporarily remove your access to a game, part of a game, or your EA Account when we notice activity on your EA Account that goes against our EA User Agreement or Rules of Conduct. Suspensions expire after a certain period of time.
  • Ban: Depending on the severity of the ban, we’ll remove your access to a game, part of a game, or your EA Account for an extended period of time or permanently. We normally ban your EA Account due to repeated or extreme violations of our EA User Agreement or Rules of Conduct. 

How to check a ban or suspension status

To check if you’ve got a ban, suspension, or other penalty, go to the Penalty History tool. You’ll be able to see your full history across EA games, including any active warnings or account actions.

How to appeal a lock, ban, or suspension

It’s against EA’s Positive Play Charter and User Agreement for players to improperly use in-game support buttons or file false reports to EA staff. We’re here to help with genuine challenges, so only contact us after you’ve reviewed the EA Rules of Conduct.

If you have a lock, ban, or suspension on your EA Account, on a specific game, or on your device, we may email you from ea@e.ea.com. This is our official email account, so make sure you add it to your contact list. Otherwise, our emails might go into your Spam folder. 
If you think the lock, ban, or suspension on your EA Account was a mistake, you can appeal the decision. The best way to appeal is to use the Penalty History tool and select the violation you want to appeal. You’ll see more details like the penalty type, the reason for the violation, and the current status of your appeal. 

How to submit an appeal using the Penalty History tool

  1. 1
    Go to the Penalty History tool and sign in with your EA Account.
  2. 2
    You’ll see a list of violations under the Your violations section on the summary page. Select the violation you want to appeal by clicking the Review button. 
  3. 3
    You’ll see more details of your violation on this page. If you haven’t appealed this violation yet, you can click Appeal and follow the on-screen steps to submit your request. 

If you can’t see your violation or access the Penalty History tool

Here are some reasons you might not see an infraction in the Penalty History tool.
You don’t have any penalties. This is the most likely reason.
The Penalty History tool has a bug. If this is the case, we’ll  try to fix it as soon as possible. Try again later.
You’re signed in to the wrong EA Account. The tool only shows penalties for the EA Account you’re currently using.
You can’t sign in to your EA Account because it’s been hacked. Follow our steps to try to re-secure your account.
The infraction was on EA Forums. Forum-specific moderation actions don’t appear in the Penalty History tool.
The infraction was from a mobile game. Some mobile titles aren’t connected to the Penalty History tool, so penalties from those games may not appear.
If you’re a mobile player, can’t sign in to your EA Account, or don’t see the violation you want to appeal listed in the Penalty History tool, use this webform instead.
  1. 1
    Open the webform. 
  2. 2
    Fill out the form with as much detail as possible.
  3. 3
    Select Submit.
  4. 4
    Then select Email us.
Your case will be sent to our dedicated team for review. You can expect an email from noreply@ea.com within 10 days, though sometimes it takes longer. The email will give you more information about our decision and how to dispute it if you think we’ve made a mistake.

Why are accounts banned or suspended?

We ban, suspend, or sanction accounts when we see any inappropriate content or evidence of cheating. We also take action against any account that posts vulgar, threatening, or harassing content in any EA game or on any EA website.Cheating includes but isn’t limited to:
  • using third-party software, such as aimbots, wallhacks, and other similar cheats to gain an unfair advantage over other players
  • performing in-game exploits or abusing glitches or bugs
  • stat padding (abusing game features in an unintended way to artificially stack on scores)
  • win-trading or otherwise manipulating in-game ranking systems with the collaboration of others
  • using software or cheat tools that disconnect other players from the EA servers.
Keep in mind: if you submit a chargeback for a refund outside of our refund policy, we may take one of the following actions:
  • lock your EA Account
  • remove the content charged back.