Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War players are terrified of getting banned for playing Zombies to high rounds

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War players are saying they're terrified of playing the Zombies mode to high rounds after a recent spate of high-profile ban reports from those who proclaim their innocence.

The Zombies community has this week surfaced a disconnect message called "Sail 630 nuclear bug", which has popped up on the PC version of Treyarch's shooter.

Players have reported receiving this error message, which forces a return to the main menu, after reaching a reasonably high round in Zombies (between 40 and 70, reports indicate).

Some players reported receiving this "Sail 630 nuclear bug" message alongside getting banned from the game via Battle.net - the exclusive home to Black Ops Cold War on PC. This has happened to some high-profile players, which has fuelled the fear of playing Zombies to high rounds among the community.

Zombies speedrunner TheOfficialKHF received the dreaded "Sail 630 nuclear bug" disconnect message an hour-and-a-half into a run, then found a message on Battle.net to say they were banned.

This is not an isolated incident. Former French competitive Call of Duty player Julien "ZylewR" Louis was also banned live on stream this week while playing Zombies.

Treyarch community chief FoxhoundFPS has attempted to calm growing fear within the Zombies community by taking to its subreddit. FoxhoundFPS insisted the Sail 630 Nuclear Bug "is not a ban-inducing error". Rather, it's a disconnect notice in place of the standard disconnect messaging on PC.

After a redditor pointed out that this error message has come alongside reported bans, FoxhoundFPS suggested the two are not linked. Rather than "Sail 630 nuclear bug" being the message a player would see as a result of a ban, it is simply the error message a player would see as a result of being disconnected for various reasons, including a ban.

"That's effectively how enforcement works," FoxhoundFPS said. "If you are connected to our servers and your account receives enforcement, then you are disconnected from the server. A subsequent restart of the application will note that the account has received some form of enforcement.

"We encourage players to continue playing Zombies as per usual, which includes chasing high-rounds and personal bests," FoxhoundFPS continued.

FoxhoundFPS then said the bans being dished out were legit.

"Players that experience disconnects are not subject to enforcement unless they are violating the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Security and Enforcement Policy. As I have always stated, all infractions undergo a thorough review process by the security team before enforcement.

"Players are able, and encouraged, to maintain or resume normal Zombies gameplay."

FoxhoundFPS's comments cast a shadow over the high-profile players who received bans this week. In a reddit post, TheOfficialKHF insisted: "I am not a cheater."

"Thanks for the support guys, I don't give a f*** about this game anymore tbh so I don't care if it gets fixed but here's the full VOD for Treyarch to see as clear cut proof I am not a cheater and that I was unfairly banned just like every other mother f***er on here. The VOD also shows the aftermath where I am truly Permanently Banned from Cold War on BattleNet.

"Your move, Treyarch."

Zombies PC players are now racking their brains trying to work out what will spark a ban, gathering reports in a bid to find some common cause. Perhaps it's the use of a VPN? Perhaps it's some third-party software Battle.net disagrees with? Whatever the case, Zombies players are now terrified to play the game.

"It is a very bad position to be in as a PC player, with many users like myself too scared to even play the game - even worse, many who have claimed to play the Zombies modes to higher rounds (~50+ up to the 70s) are being disconnected and permanently banned from the whole game during this match or during their next match in any mode," one concerned player called Xpljesus told Eurogamer.

Xpljesus' concern is shared by redditor Crazie_Gecko, who said: "As a PC player I find that it is absolutely horrid that I can't play the game I bought because I'm afraid of being falsely banned."

While this issue appears to be restricted to the PC version of Black Ops Cold War, some console players are worried about getting banned, too.

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