What are Friend Codes?

A Friend Code is a unique numeric code that allows a player to communicate directly with a friend’s Nintendo DS or Nintendo 3DS via the Nintendo Network. When two people have exchanged Friend Codes, they can find each other online when they’re logged on to the Nintendo Network and playing the same game.

For instance, if a person is playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf and logged on to the Nintendo Network, that person can see if any of his or her friends (people he or she has exchanged Friend Codes with) are logged on as well. If yes, the friends can visit each other’s town within the game.

In many games, players who have exchanged Friend Codes can communicate with each other, either via text chat or the Voice Chat feature. If two people have not exchanged Friend Codes, there is no way for the two of them to directly communicate via the Nintendo Network

We encourage you to instruct your children never to give out their Friend Codes to strangers, nor to post them on Internet forums.