The grounds Riot Games relies on
Riot Games enforces its Terms of Service and the Community Pact, and its Suspension & Ban FAQ (checked on 26 October 2026) distinguishes between restrictions and bans. Restrictions, such as chat restrictions or the penalties for leaving games and dodging queues, limit the account while it otherwise keeps working; suspensions and bans lock the player out of League of Legends, either for a set period or permanently. The reasons follow the report categories, i.e. negative attitude, verbal abuse, leaving the game, intentional feeding, hate speech, cheating and offensive names, and Riot adds breaches of the Terms of Service such as win-trading and boosting.
Riot enforces these rules through human moderators and automated systems, and for cheating it relies on Riot Vanguard, the anti-cheat that League of Legends requires. According to Riot, permanent bans are almost always preceded by warnings or temporary suspensions, but severe behaviour can lead to a permanent ban at once. The heaviest step is the hardware ID (HWID) ban, which Riot imposes after extreme aggression or intentional feeding across several permanently banned accounts, verifiable threats of harm, or the use of third-party scripting or cheating tools.
Where the appeal goes
Riot handles appeals through a ticket with its player support, and the FAQ describes three steps: submitting a ticket, choosing "Discuss a Personal Suspension, Ban, or Restriction" as the request type, and entering the required information. The reason for a ban is shown at login, and Riot provides chat logs for behaviour penalties; both should be at hand before the ticket is written.
An HWID ban follows a route of its own. Riot's article on HWID bans explains that such a ban shows as error VAN 152 at login, that a re-evaluation is requested through player support, and that each affected account needs a separate ticket. It shall be noted that this ban covers the computer, so reinstalling the game or deleting the account concerned does not remove it.
What the appeal should contain
Riot states that correctly assigned penalties are never overturned; an appeal, therefore, has to show that the penalty was not correctly assigned, not merely that it was harsh. It should name the Riot ID, the date, the reason shown at login and the match concerned, and then engage with the evidence Riot provides. For a chat penalty, these are the logged lines in their context; for a cheating ban, the programs that ran on the PC; for a penalty for leaving games, the connection problems that can be documented.
Two arguments do not help. Riot holds the owner fully responsible for all activity on the account and treats account sharing as a bannable offence, so a ban earned by a friend or a booster counts as justly placed. Only a compromise belongs in the appeal, with an account recovery request. Equally, the conduct of another player in the same match does not excuse the player's own, as Riot's FAQ points out.
After the decision
Riot states that suspensions from its Instant Feedback System are generally not lifted or adjusted. For HWID bans, the article speaks of a final call on whether to lift or extend the ban. Even a lift only ends the banning of accounts on sight, while previously banned accounts stay banned until the HWID period ends. An HWID ban imposed for a verifiable threat of harm will not be reconsidered. A second ticket, therefore, makes sense only with new facts, e.g. evidence of a takeover that was not available at first.
Ban evasion is detected at the hardware level: if another account is used on a computer with an HWID ban, Riot bans that account for a set period as an attempt to circumvent the original ban. The Terms of Service, moreover, reserve the right to terminate other accounts of a player whose account was terminated for cause. Accordingly, this guide does not describe ways around a ban.
Current enforcement
In August 2026, Game Ban Appeal prepared an appeal for a League of Legends account; the decision on the ban remained with Riot Games. The League of Legends appeal page sets out the steps in short form, and the LoL ban-wave monitor records whether Riot is currently running a wider enforcement wave.
Frequently asked questions
Can a League of Legends ban be appealed?
Yes, through a ticket with Riot's player support under "Discuss a Personal Suspension, Ban, or Restriction". Riot states, however, that correctly assigned penalties are never overturned and that suspensions from the Instant Feedback System are generally not lifted.
Is a LoL permaban permanent?
Riot describes a permanent ban as locking the player out of League of Legends forever. An appeal, consequently, has a point only where the ban was assigned incorrectly.
Does a League of Legends ban affect Valorant?
An ordinary suspension, as Riot describes it, locks the player out of League of Legends. An HWID ban goes further, since Riot does not want the banned person to create, access or use any account on a Riot platform or game for its duration.
