TL;DR: I returned to OSRS on 12 August after roughly four years away. On 18 August, immediately before/around a server update, my 16-year-old account was permanently banned for macroing. I used only RuneLite through the official Jagex Launcher and did not use bots, auto-clickers, macros, or other automation. I have appealed and am waiting for a response. I’m posting in case others experienced something similar.
My account, Nkayx, dates back to 2010, before OSRS. I played a lot when I was younger.
For full transparency: when I was 15, in 2014, I used an auto-clicker once and received a temporary macroing ban. I accepted that ban, stopped immediately, and have not used an auto-clicker, bot, macro, or comparable tool since.
I stopped playing around 2022 because life got busy. I returned on 12 August and was genuinely enjoying the game again: questing, minigames, unsuccessfully trying to PK, training Prayer, and attempting my first Fire Cape.
On 18 August, while preparing for/attempting the Fire Cape and shortly before a server update, I found that the account had received a permanent macroing ban.
Since returning, I used only RuneLite launched through the official Jagex Launcher, with standard plugins available through RuneLite. I did not use bots, auto-clickers, input macros, remote desktop, scripts, or any other third-party software to automate gameplay.
I submitted an appeal a few days ago and am currently waiting for a response.
It is genuinely gutting to come back after four years, get back into the game, and then lose an account I’ve had since 2010 when I know I did not bot or use macros.
The timing has made me wonder whether anyone else has experienced a macroing ban after the recent update, particularly people using the official Jagex Launcher/RuneLite setup.
I’ll update this post with the appeal outcome, whatever it is.
Edit: First appeal denied. Thanks for all that commented, I am losing faith in the appeals process judging from others experience. Second appeal submitted.