So, you’re out on a walk, you spot a rare Gible, throw a curveball, and—poof. It flees. Then the next one flees. And the one after that. Pokestops aren’t giving you items anymore, and you're starting to wonder if Niantic has it out for you personally. You’ve likely been Pokemon Go soft banned. It’s frustrating. It's annoying. But honestly, it’s usually just a temporary hiccup caused by the game’s internal "speed lock" or a GPS glitch that made the server think you were traveling faster than a jet plane.
Niantic doesn't really give you a pop-up warning for this. You won’t see a "You are banned" screen like you would with a permanent termination or a 7-day "Shadow Ban" strike. Instead, the game just stops working correctly. It’s a silent wall. You can still see Pokemon, but you can't participate in the world.
What a Pokemon Go soft banned state actually looks like
If you’re wondering if you’re actually soft banned or just having a run of incredibly bad luck, look for the specific symptoms. The most famous one is the "100% flee rate." Every single Pokemon you encounter will break out of the ball after exactly one shake and immediately run away. You could use a Golden Razz Berry and an Ultra Ball on a 10 CP Pidgey, and it will still vanish into a cloud of smoke.
Pokestops are the other giveaway. When you spin a photo disc, it will just spin and spin without turning blue or dropping items. Sometimes you'll get a "Try again later" error message, but usually, it just stays white. You also won't be able to win Gym battles or join Raids. The game will let you enter the lobby, but as soon as the "GO!" signal hits, you'll be kicked back to the map.
How long does it last? Usually, it's a waiting game. These bans typically lift anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours. In extreme cases, where the game thinks you’ve traveled across the world in seconds, it can last up to 12 hours. It’s all based on a "cooldown" timer that tracks your last interaction in the game versus your current GPS coordinates.
Why the game thinks you're cheating (even if you aren't)
The logic behind the Pokemon Go soft banned mechanic is actually pretty simple: it’s a math problem. Niantic uses a "Cooling Down" algorithm to prevent people from using GPS spoofing apps to jump from New York to Tokyo in a heartbeat. If you caught a Pokemon in London at 12:00 PM and then tried to spin a stop in Paris at 12:05 PM, the game knows that's physically impossible for a human.
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But you don't have to be a cheater to trigger this.
GPS drift is a massive culprit. If you’re playing inside a tall building with a concrete roof, your phone might struggle to find a signal. Suddenly, your avatar sprints three blocks away and then snaps back to your actual location. To the server, that looks like a teleportation hack.
Playing while on a high-speed train or as a passenger in a car is another common trigger. If you're hitting 70 mph on the highway and trying to click on spawns, the game's "speed lock" kicks in. It assumes you’re moving too fast to be playing safely or fairly, and it effectively shuts down your ability to interact with the map until you slow down or stay in one place for a while.
The technical "Cooldown" table Niantic uses
While Niantic hasn't officially published their internal numbers, the community—specifically researchers from groups like The Silph Road—has reverse-engineered the timing. Basically, the further you travel, the longer you have to wait before the game allows you to play again.
- 1km to 5km: About 1-2 minutes.
- 10km to 50km: 7 to 20 minutes.
- 100km: 30 minutes.
- 1000km+: The maximum cap of 2 hours.
If you traveled 500 miles and tried to play immediately, you're going to be soft banned for a full 120 minutes. It’s that simple.
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Is this different from a Shadow Ban or a Permanent Ban?
Yes. It's vital to know the difference so you don't panic. A Pokemon Go soft banned account is just on a temporary timeout.
A "Shadow Ban" (the first strike of the Three-Strike Policy) is much worse. This happens when Niantic detects third-party software on your device. During a Shadow Ban, you can still play, but you won't see any rare spawns. Your map will only show common "trash" Pokemon like Rattata or Sentret. You won't see evolutions, rare dragons, or shiny events. This usually lasts 7 days.
A Permanent Ban is exactly what it sounds like. You get a screen saying your account has been terminated for violating the Terms of Service. There is no timer for this; you have to appeal it through Niantic's website, and honestly, the success rate for those appeals is pretty low unless you can prove your account was hacked.
How to fix the soft ban right now
If you’re currently stuck, there isn't a "magic button" to reset the server's view of your location, but there are a few things you can do.
First, stop trying to catch things. Every time you throw a ball and the Pokemon flees, or every time you spin a stop and it fails, you are potentially resetting the internal "interaction" timer. Put the phone down. Turn off the app. Give it 30 to 60 minutes of zero activity. This is the most reliable way to clear the flag.
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There used to be an old "40 spins" trick. People would find a Pokestop, spin it, close it, and repeat that 40 times to "force" the ban to lift. Niantic patched this years ago. Don't waste your time with it; it doesn't work anymore and just makes you look more like a bot to their automated systems.
Check your GPS settings. If you’re on Android, ensure your "Location Accuracy" is set to High. On iPhone, make sure "Precise Location" is toggled on for Pokemon Go. If your phone is bouncing your location around, the soft ban will just keep coming back.
Practical steps to stay under the radar
Honestly, the best way to deal with being Pokemon Go soft banned is to prevent it from happening in the first place. If you're a legitimate player, you're mostly at the mercy of your internet connection and your speed.
- Wait before you play after a flight. If you just landed in a new city, wait at least two hours before opening the app. Opening the game while your phone is still searching for a local tower can cause a massive GPS jump that triggers the ban instantly.
- Avoid playing in "dead zones." If you know your office or house has terrible GPS reception that makes your character run across the map, turn off your Wi-Fi or stay off the game while you're there.
- Respect the speed limit. If the "You're going too fast!" pop-up appears, stop trying to spin stops. The game is literally telling you that you're approaching the soft ban threshold.
- Don't share accounts. If you give your login to a friend in another state so they can catch a regional like Heracross or Sigilyph, and you log in five minutes later, you will get soft banned. Worse, this is a flagrant violation of the TOS and can lead to a permanent ban.
If you’re a "legit" player, these bans are nothing more than a nuisance. They don't stack up toward a permanent ban on their own—Niantic understands that GPS isn't perfect. However, if you're consistently triggering these because you're using modified apps or auto-catchers that don't respect travel times, you're playing with fire.
The smartest thing to do when the game stops responding is to just take a break. Go get a coffee. Walk a bit further without the app open. By the time you reach the next park, the server has usually caught up with your location, the cooldown has expired, and you'll be back to catching 'em all without the frustration of seeing them all run away.