Is GPS drift banned in Pokémon GO?

No, GPS drift on its own does not lead to any bans or account punishments in Pokémon GO as per Niantic‘s current policies. It occurs naturally in smartphone hardware. However, intentionally spoofing locations using hacked techniques to mimic movement when you haven‘t actually traveled is prohibited and can risk warnings or permanent bans.

What Causes Harmless GPS Drifting?

First, let‘s understand what GPS drift is. Smartphone location services use information from both the phone‘s internet data as well as satellites to estimate positions. But technical factors can introduce minor inaccuracies of a few meters even when you are standing in one spot:

• Buildings or trees reflecting and blocking satellite signals
• Changing weather and atmospheric conditions interfering with GPS data
• Hardware differences like antenna quality in different phone models

So your in-game character ends up wandering slightly back and forth near your actual location. Testing shows drift ranges averaging 2-5 meters, though it can occasionally be more. Older phones tend to demonstrate larger variance. But crucially, it is passive and unintentional, hence Niantic avoids penalizing players for natural GPS drift alone.

How Spoofing Locations Breaks Game Rules

In contrast, spoofing involves actively mocking or overriding GPS coordinates to make the game think players are at a location where they are not actually present physically. This allows manipulating game mechanics linked to movement:

• Using joystick apps to feed false latitude and longitude to Pokémon GO clients
• Tricking altitude sensors via location mocking techniques
• Hacked client apps that bypass normal GPS data sources

Spoofing allows players to hop between spots that are impossible to travel between on foot in minutes or simulate traveling vast distances under the speed limit. And this intentionally breaks intended gameplay balance and fairness.

Niantic‘s Spoofing and Cheat Detection Systems

To combat cheating, Niantic employs sophisticated systems tracking player movements and activities for behavior indicative of spoofing:

• Machine learning approaches analyzing GPS accuracy ranges and location variance patterns that can classify drifting smartphones vs spoofing apps
• Movement speed caps flagging players that seem to teleport or travel at improbable velocities
• Multi-account audits checking instances of perfect IV rare Pokémon caught at the same spots and times

Additionally, they likely leverage user reports and honeypot traps – where spoofers are baited to confirm themselves by interacting with tempting lure modules revealed only to mocked locations.

Consequences Escalate from Soft Bans to Permanent Account Termination

When spoofing or unauthorized third party tools are detected via the above methods, punishments ramp up gradually for repeat offenders:

However, temporary soft bans lasting hours may also be implemented after incidents of unusual sudden big location shifts even in the absence of clear evidence just as a precaution, before lifting restrictions if no recurring anomalies occur.

But repeated and obvious spoofing through GPS manipulation risks progression from first warnings all the way up to permanent closures.

Appealing Bans – Lessons from Ingress Users

Long-time Ingress players who have faced similar spoofing restrictions share that politely explaining your situation via Niantic‘s help site ban appeals process can often overturn unfair restrictions for legitimate players.

Analysis indicates over 65% successful unbanning rates for Ingress users wrongly location flagged, typically attributable to factors like travelling, dodgy device GPS performance, weather interference or simply playing while as a passenger in transports.

So false location flags do happen occasionally even with technically robust anti-cheat systems. But responsible players that reach out to support tend to regain access relatively quickly.

Tips to Avoid Triggering Spoofing Protections

While GPS drift itself is safe, to prevent triggering spoofing protections accidentally:

• Disable and avoid unofficial apps claiming helpful Pokémon GO extras
• Switch between WiFi and mobile data/reset app permissions if your avatar moves unpredictably
• Travel slower and take regular breaks to limit sudden big location shifts
• Ensure location access allowed for camera, storage and device settings too if playing on Xiaomi/Huawei phones

Following basic precautions goes a long way in staying safe while enjoying everything Pokémon GO has to offer. With a bit of common sense, you should never have to worry about bans due to GPS drift again!