New players trying out Halo Infinite multiplayer’s Ranked Arena mode may eventually see an error message that says, “User is banned” and be confused. When this happens, the player cannot connect to Ranked Arena competitive mode for a period of time. It’s not uncommon, and it’s because there’s a system in place to prevent people from leaving matches. Below, we’ll explain why that happens and how the ban system works in Halo Infinite.
Halo Infinite: “User is banned”
If you see the message saying “User is banned” when attempting to join a ranked match in Halo Infinite, you’ve likely left a match, your game crashed, or you got disconnected too many times.
Whether intentional or not, leaving a game goes against the Halo Code of Conduct found on the official Halo website. Players get multiple chances to redeem themselves and correct the issue, which is why the penalties start light and progressively get more severe for repeat offenders. Here’s the length of each ban depending on the number of offenses:
- 1st offense: 5 minutes
- 2nd offense: 15 minutes
- 3rd offense: 30 minutes
- 4th offense: 1 hour
- 5th offense: 3 hours
- 6th offense: 16 hours
Upon the launch of Halo Infinite, it’s not uncommon to experience the occasional game crashes and disconnects. You cannot do much when this happens, but you get multiple chances to correct the issue. You can try contacting Halo Support rather than repeatedly ruin people’s experience if the problem persists. Halo Infinite Ranked Arena is a competitive game mode, and when you disconnect or leave, you put your team at a 3v4 disadvantage.
These actions can also result in a ban:
- Frequently and repeatedly quitting
- Unsportsmanlike behavior, such as excessive idling, betrayal, or suicide
- Attempted playlist ranking manipulation
- Progression system manipulation
- Network manipulation
- Violating the Halo Terms of Use, Licensing Agreement, Code of Conduct, and Xbox Community Standards
