Yes, Valorant uses HWID (hardware ID) bans through its kernel-level anti-cheat system, Vanguard. When you're caught cheating or violating Riot's Terms of Service, Vanguard blacklists your hardware components — motherboard serial numbers, storage drive IDs, MAC addresses, and monitor identifiers — so creating a new account on the same computer results in an instant ban within hours. A first-offense HWID ban lasts 120 days, and a second offense becomes permanent; the same ban infrastructure also locks you out of League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics because all three games share Vanguard.
How Vanguard Tracks Your Hardware
HWID stands for hardware ID — the unique serial numbers and identifiers burned into your motherboard, storage drives, network adapters, and monitor. Vanguard operates at kernel-level, meaning it loads at Windows boot before Valorant, before cheats, before any user-level software starts. That boot-time position gives Vanguard access to hardware identifiers that cheaters running software later in the boot sequence can't hide or spoof.
Vanguard queries four primary hardware components through Windows kernel APIs. Motherboard serial numbers come from WMI Win32_BaseBoard queries. Storage drive IDs are pulled via SMART attributes using DeviceIoControl IOCTL_STORAGE_QUERY_PROPERTY calls. Network adapter MAC addresses are retrieved through GetAdaptersInfo. Monitor EDID data is read directly from the display's firmware. These queries happen before the game client even launches.
HWID bans apply across all Vanguard-protected games. If you're hardware-banned in Valorant, you're also banned in League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics. Switching your IP or using a VPN does nothing to bypass a hardware ban.
How Long Does a Valorant HWID Ban Last?
A first-offense HWID ban lasts 120 days. If you're caught cheating again after that first ban expires, the second offense becomes a permanent hardware ban with no expiration.
During the first 7 days of your initial HWID ban, you cannot log into Valorant at all. After those 7 days pass, you can log in, but any account you create or access on the banned hardware will be immediately flagged and banned within hours. This ban-on-sight enforcement continues until the full 120-day period expires.
You may see older forum posts citing 90 days — that was the standard before 2025. The current enforcement window is 120 days for first offenses as of early 2025. Repeatedly attempting to create new accounts during the ban period may flag your hardware for extended scrutiny or convert a temporary ban into a permanent one.
| Offense | Duration | Account access |
|---|---|---|
| First offense | 120 days | No login for the first 7 days. After day 7, any login results in an instant account ban, until day 120. |
| Repeat offense | Permanent | All current and future accounts banned immediately. |
What Happens When You're HWID Banned
The moment Vanguard detects cheating or a Terms of Service violation, your current Riot account is permanently banned. You'll receive a ban notification citing the violation type — usually "Use of Unauthorized Third-Party Programs" or "Cheating." Your hardware is simultaneously blacklisted.
Valorant players creating a new Riot account on the same computer will receive an instant ban within hours. The HWID ban applies to the hardware itself, not the account. You cannot bypass it by making a new Riot account, changing your username, using a different email address, or switching your Riot ID. Vanguard reads your hardware fingerprint at boot; the blacklist check happens before you even see the Valorant client.
The appeal process has a very low success rate. Support tickets submitted through Riot's portal receive generic denial responses within 72 hours.
You have two realistic paths post-ban: wait out the 120-day period without accessing Valorant, or replace the banned hardware components.
Can You Bypass a Valorant HWID Ban?
Two methods bypass a Valorant HWID ban: hardware replacement and HWID spoofing tools. Both have cost and detection tradeoffs.
Hardware replacement means physically swapping out the components Vanguard fingerprints. At minimum, you must replace your motherboard and storage drives — those two components carry the primary serial numbers Vanguard queries via WMI and SMART attributes. In many cases you'll also need to replace your network adapter for the MAC address. Cost range: $200–400 for a motherboard and NVMe SSD, rising to $300–500 if you add a network card. Monitors are tracked via EDID data, but replacing a monitor alone without swapping the motherboard rarely clears the ban because Vanguard weights motherboard serial numbers heavily.
HWID spoofers are kernel-level drivers that intercept Vanguard's hardware ID queries and return anonymized identifiers instead of your real serial numbers. Saturn Spoofer is a kernel-level HWID spoofer built specifically for Vanguard, Easy Anti-Cheat, and BattlEye — it installs with a single PowerShell command in under 60 seconds and anonymizes every hardware query so Vanguard can't link a banned PC to a new account.
Spoofers come in two architectures: session-based and permanent. Session-based spoofers load per-session and revert on reboot — your real hardware IDs never touch the disk, so Vanguard sees "new" hardware each session with no pre/post state comparison risk. Permanent spoofers lock a single anonymized profile to your device across reboots, which is convenient but risks detection if Vanguard compares the profile before and after a driver update. Commercial spoofers with auto-update mechanisms that patch same-day with Vanguard updates have higher success rates than static tools.
Free or cracked spoofers carry malware risk and are detected within hours. Vanguard's kernel driver updates bi-weekly with Episode patches and emergency hotfixes; a spoofer without continuous updates becomes a detection honeypot the moment Vanguard changes its hardware query method.
Using a VPN or changing your IP address alone does not bypass the ban — Vanguard does not tie bans to network location.
Hardware component replacement priorities
| Component | Vanguard query | Priority | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motherboard | WMI Win32_BaseBoard SerialNumber | Required | $120–300 |
| Storage (NVMe / SSD / HDD) | DeviceIoControl IOCTL_STORAGE_QUERY_PROPERTY (SMART) | Required | $80–150 |
| Network adapter | GetAdaptersInfo (MAC address) | High — often bundled with the motherboard | $20–60 standalone |
| Monitor | EDID firmware data | Medium — lower weight than the motherboard | $100–400 |
Edge Cases: Used PCs, False Positives & Shared Hardware
Buying a used PC or second-hand hardware components can inherit an existing HWID ban with no reliable way to check before purchase. Vanguard's blacklist is server-side; there's no public API or tool that lets you query a motherboard serial number or storage drive ID against Riot's ban database before you buy.
Used hardware buyer protection checklist
- Ask the seller for Riot account history — request a screenshot of their Valorant account status or confirmation that they've never been banned.
- Request serial numbers and test with a throwaway account — if the seller provides motherboard and drive serial numbers, create a disposable Riot account on that hardware before committing to the purchase. An instant ban means the hardware is blacklisted.
- Buy from retailers with return policies — eBay, Amazon Renewed, and Micro Center allow 30-day returns. Avoid Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace for core components unless you can test before payment.
- Budget for a spoofer or replacement — if you discover a ban after purchase and can't return the hardware, a $50–150 spoofer subscription is cheaper than replacing the motherboard again.
False positives occur, though they're rare. RGB controllers (Corsair iCUE, Razer Synapse), system monitoring tools (MSI Afterburner, HWiNFO), and overclocking utilities (Ryzen Master, Intel XTU) can trigger Vanguard flags because they use low-level hardware polling that looks like cheat behavior to the anti-cheat.
If you share your PC with someone who cheats, the hardware ban applies to every player using it. Vanguard doesn't distinguish between players on the same machine — the blacklist is hardware-specific, not account-specific.
Frequently Asked Questions
The most common ban question Valorant players ask is whether the game uses hardware bans — here's what you need to know.
Does Valorant use HWID bans?
Yes. Vanguard blacklists hardware components — motherboard serial numbers, storage drive IDs, MAC addresses, and monitor identifiers — when you're caught cheating. Creating a new account on the same PC results in an instant ban within hours.
How long does a Valorant HWID ban last?
120 days for a first offense, permanent for a repeat offense. During the first 7 days you cannot log in at all. After day 7, you can log in but will be banned on all accounts until the 120-day period expires.
Is a Valorant HWID ban permanent?
First offense is temporary — 120 days. Second offense after the first ban expires is permanent with no expiration. Repeatedly attempting to evade the ban during the 120-day window may extend the ban or convert it to permanent at Riot's discretion.
What hardware does Vanguard track for HWID bans?
Motherboard serial number (WMI Win32_BaseBoard), storage drive IDs via SMART attributes (DeviceIoControl IOCTL_STORAGE_QUERY_PROPERTY), network adapter MAC addresses (GetAdaptersInfo), and monitor EDID data. Vanguard queries these at Windows boot before the game or any cheats load.
Can you bypass a Valorant HWID ban with a spoofer?
Yes. Kernel-level spoofers intercept Vanguard's hardware queries and return anonymized IDs. Free or cracked spoofers are detected within hours. A commercial HWID spoofer with auto-updates that patches same-day with Vanguard — including session-based drivers that revert on reboot — has a higher success rate because it adapts to bi-weekly Vanguard kernel driver updates.
Can you get HWID banned in Valorant without cheating?
Rare false positives occur. RGB software (Corsair iCUE, Razer Synapse), system monitoring tools (MSI Afterburner, HWiNFO), and overclocking utilities (Ryzen Master, Intel XTU) can trigger Vanguard flags. Buying used hardware with an existing ban also locks you out. Appeal success rate is very low even with documentation.