What is a Shadowban in Warzone? Limited matchmaking explained

Matt Porter ❘ Published: 2024-02-22T15:57:13 ❘ Updated: 2024-02-22T15:57:21

One of Warzone’s ways to fight cheaters within the game is called Shadowbans, so here’s what being Shadowbanned means, and how to find out if you have limited matchmaking.

When entering a Warzone session, players always hope to win the match, but this gets harder when finding out a cheater is in your lobby. Either they are using wallhacks or aimbots, the fun is ruined when cheaters populate a Warzone match.

RICOCHET anti-cheat and its kernel-level drivers include several measures to counter Warzone cheaters such as detecting Cronus, turning enemies invisible, removing their weapons, and nerfing their damage, among others. Still, Activision uses other tools like limited matchmaking to help their efforts to stop hackers from ruining players’ matches.

Here’s everything you need to know about a Shadowban, including how they work and how you can find out if your account received limited matchmaking.

What does Shadowban mean in Warzone?

It’s easy to tell if you have been Shadowbanned in Warzone.

When a Warzone player is suspected of violating Call of Duty’s Security and Enforcement policy, their account may be placed into “a limited matchmaking state,” known as Shadowban.

This means they won’t be able to play in normal lobbies with the rest of the game’s community while Activision reviews their account. Instead, they get placed into special lobbies full of other suspected cheaters.

The limited matchmaking status will depend on the offense the player is suspected of. As of February 2024, CoD’s policy has four active offense and suspension classes:

Minor offense: The player hasn’t done “quantifiable” damage to another player or the “game community at large.”
Temporary suspension: These may range from “48 hours to two weeks or longer,” depending on the severity of the offense.
Permanent suspension: They are “lasting and final” and can be applied across Call of Duty titles.
Extreme offense: The player has “caused detriment to other players or has organized large groups of players to commit additional offenses.”

Unfortunately, because Warzone is free-to-play, once cheaters figure out what has happened to them, many make new accounts. Still, limited matchmaking is a useful tool to take them out of the regular player base into a lobby full of potential cheaters.

What is limited matchmaking in Warzone?

Limited matchmaking is the same thing as a Shadowban in Warzone, where any player suspected of “a potential violation” of the policy, will be placed into a “limited matchmaking state.” This will separate the player suspected of cheating from the rest of the player base, just like the Shadowban system.

You can check if you have limited matchmaking status through Activision Support.

Can you get Shadowbanned in Warzone?

Yes, a regular, non-cheating player can get Shadowbanned in Warzone. Several streamers have been Shadowbanned, and placed into limited matchmaking, and it happens to regular players all the time too.