In ARC Raiders, a hardware ban is the end of the line. Embark's own policy is blunt: hardware bans are final and not appealable. The game runs Easy Anti-Cheat, and when EAC issues a hardware ban it blacklists your PC's identifiers, not just your account — so a new Steam account, a new Embark ID, and a fresh copy of the game all get flagged the moment you launch on the same machine.
That makes ARC Raiders one of the strictest enforcement regimes around, and it's why the false-positive reports sting so much. This guide explains how the ban tiers work, what gets fingerprinted, the honest truth about false flags, and what you can actually do.
Quick reference: ARC Raiders bans
| Property | Detail |
|---|---|
| Anti-cheat | Easy Anti-Cheat (kernel level) |
| Account ban | Can be temporary or permanent |
| Hardware ban | Permanent and not appealable |
| Ban scope | Hardware fingerprint — the whole PC |
| New account fix? | No — the ban follows the hardware |
How ARC Raiders' ban tiers work
Not every ban is a hardware ban. Embark issues account-level penalties that can be temporary, and reserves the hardware ban as the top tier for confirmed, serious cases. The distinction matters: an account ban locks a login, while a HWID ban blacklists the machine itself. When EAC applies the hardware tier, it records your motherboard serial, disk serials, MAC address, and SMBIOS data — sometimes GPU identifiers too — and matches that fingerprint on every future launch.
Because ARC Raiders uses the same engine as many other titles, the stakes go beyond one game. We cover the cross-title angle in does an EAC ban affect other games, and the engine itself in our Easy Anti-Cheat explainer.
Why a new account won't save you
A fresh account on a banned PC is caught almost instantly, because EAC checks the hardware before it checks the login. This is by design — hardware bans exist to stop the rage-buy cycle where a banned cheater just makes a new account and returns. The blacklist is anchored to firmware-bound values, so reinstalling Windows doesn't help either; the same machine reports the same fingerprint.
The false-positive problem, honestly
Here's the uncomfortable part. False flags are a real category: overlays, unusual hardware, odd driver combinations, and sometimes VPNs can trip an aggressive anti-cheat into suspicion when nothing wrong happened. Players have reported false bans, and the fact that hardware bans are non-appealable makes any error feel catastrophic. This is the same dynamic we cover in anti-cheat false positives — legitimate software getting read as a threat.
If you suspect a false flag, the realistic path is narrow. Hardware bans are documented as final, but you can still contact Embark support to state your case calmly and factually — see how to appeal a game ban for how to present evidence, even though success rates for confirmed hardware bans are low. What you should not do is panic-buy hardware or trust anyone promising a guaranteed unban.
What this means going forward
Be honest with yourself about what software can do. Tools that change Windows-level identifiers work in user mode — registry IDs, NTFS volume serials, MAC addresses — but they don't rewrite the firmware values EAC anchors to, like the SMBIOS UUID or motherboard serial. For a non-appealable composite ban, that means no honest tool can promise to clear it. The only reliable strategy is prevention: keep overlays and risky software in check, and never put your account in a position where a hardware ban is on the table.
FAQ
Can you appeal an ARC Raiders hardware ban?
Embark documents hardware bans as final and not appealable. You can contact support, but confirmed hardware bans are rarely reversed.
Does ARC Raiders HWID ban follow me to a new account?
Yes. EAC blacklists your hardware fingerprint, so any new account on the same PC is flagged on launch.
Will reinstalling Windows remove an ARC Raiders ban?
No. A clean install removes software, not the firmware identifiers EAC reads.
Are ARC Raiders false bans real?
Players have reported them. Overlays, unusual hardware, and driver conflicts can trigger suspicion, which is exactly why a non-appealable policy is so contentious.
The takeaway
ARC Raiders treats a hardware ban as permanent and non-appealable, anchored to firmware values that new accounts and reinstalls can't change. That makes the system effective against repeat cheaters and unforgiving when a false positive slips through. The honest advice is the same as ever: the surest way to keep playing is to never trigger the ban — because once a confirmed hardware ban lands here, there's no clean button to undo it.