READ: HOME Tracker Value

[Kaphotics]

Introduced in the middle of February 2020, Pokémon HOME allows for importing from Bank and Let's Go Pikachu / Eevee, and bi-directional connectivity to Sword & Shield & future titles.

When a Pokémon is transferred from Bank or Let's Go Pikachu / Eevee or their games of origin into HOME, it is assigned a unique 64 bit number to differentiate it from other uploads stored on the cloud server.

• Pokémon that have not yet visited HOME do not yet have a HOME tracker.
• Pokémon that are traded in-game (online/local trades) do not get assigned a tracker.
• Pokémon that must travel thru HOME to reach the game it resides on must have a HOME tracker (origin->current).
• Pokémon that are uploaded in the same batch are not guaranteed to have a similar tracker (sometimes incremental).
• Pokémon that are missing a HOME tracker that should have one, or have a fake one, are rejected for upload (error 10015).
• Trackers are only a concern in PK8+ formats. Pokémon that aren't yet in the PK8+ (2019) do not have a field for this data.

What exactly is this value be used for?

• Storing data for each game visited outside of HOME (ex. SW/SH, PLA, BD/SP, S/V...)
• Tracking how Pokémon are traded between users.
• Detecting if a Pokémon has been modified/cloned from the original upload.
• Detecting if a Pokémon is newly entered into the HOME system (having a value of zero).

HOME trackers will be changed each upload, so a tracker value is not a permanent value.

Only HOME can determine if a tracker value is valid.

Best practice is to let the server assign you a tracker, rather than assigning a blatantly wrong tracker. For local/online gameplay, GameFreak does not check this metadata, so having arbitrary/lacking tracker values does not matter. Validating a HOME tracker requires API access to HOME, and is not something the hacking community will ever have access to. GameFreak does not validate HOME trackers for online play, but for officially sanctioned VGC events, they do -- you shouldn't be using hacked Pokémon in tournaments anyway (against our rules).

Due to the described behavior, here are our recommendations:

• When creating new Pokémon that are from generations prior to Sword & Shield, transfer into HOME via Bank first.
• When creating new Pokémon that reside in their game of origin, leave the tracker blank.
• When creating new Pokémon that reside in a game different from their origin set, generate them in their game of origin then transfer.
• When modifying any (that have already visited HOME) immutable values (PID, IVs, etc), zero out the tracker then transfer starting from their origin games.

Why not create a random tracker value?

• Again, only HOME can determine if a tracker value is valid.
• HOME will check tracker values to see if the details match the original upload (modified data).
• HOME will check tracker values to see if the details are on another user's account (cloned data).
• HOME will disallow uploads if the tracker doesn't match the data on their server (error code 10015).
• Uploading to HOME without a tracker value will automatically assign a new one (note: only when entering from their native games).
• You can receive Pokémon that lack a tracker value from other players via trade (in addition to a game's natives).
• Using an invalid tracker may fool checking tools (like PKHeX) that do not have access to HOME's API, but can still be checked by trying to upload to HOME manually. Do not be deceitful.

PKHeX's default settings are to require tracker values (should be on every non-Gen8 origin Pokémon that is residing in Gen8+, etc), but has a toggle setting to opt-out of strict checking. This is to allow users to create the most-legal data without forging an INVALID tracker value, for in-game play.

[theSLAYER]

Important concise information, thank you as usual! :3
I'll tag this post if anyone asks about it.

[djsquiggy]

Hey, thanks for posting about Home Tracker. I've been searching around for people to trade me a legit Pokemon from previous versions that they transferred through Home so that I could clone it. I thought this would be the most legit way to do it, but it seems like your post advises against that and that we should delete the tracker after? Wouldn't that raise red flags with GF that a Pokemon from a previous generation is now in SW/SH without a Home Tracker ID?

 

[Kaphotics]

On 2/15/2020 at 2:46 PM, djsquiggy said:

Hey, thanks for posting about Home Tracker. I've been searching around for people to trade me a legit Pokemon from previous versions that they transferred through Home so that I could clone it. I thought this would be the most legit way to do it, but it seems like your post advises against that and that we should delete the tracker after? Wouldn't that raise red flags with GF that a Pokemon from a previous generation is now in SW/SH without a Home Tracker ID?

Having duplicate/wrong tracker values wouldn't raise flags either?

HOME auto-deletes cloned tracker value Pokémon when they're stored on your account at the same time.

HOME auto-assigns a new tracker value if left empty.

 

It's better stewardship to let HOME manage things rather than fail to trick it.

 

Edit: As of time of edit, HOME tracker assigns a fresh tracker to any entries entering HOME, that bear a duplicate tracker when compared to an entry already in HOME.

[djsquiggy]

Sorry I keep posting the same thing here and on messages. I'll just continue on here so others can chime in.

 

For example: I make a Zekrom in PKHex and put it directly to Sword and Shield with 000000 tracker. If I put that in Home after, it will assign it a unique ID, but wouldn't they detect that it should have had a Home tracker already since it should have came from a previous gen?

[theSLAYER]

or maybe you received a hacked one through trade?
If you're that worried, create a new profile, link a different Nintendo account to it. Let's call this profile B.
Now, restore your save into B. Use B's HOME (free) and deposit the Zekrom into B's HOME. It should get a tracker this way.

HOME let's you gain access to saves of other profiles. Let's call your main profile A.
Using B's HOME, access A's save, the now shift Zekrom into A's PC.

I didn't pay for Nintendo Online for my other profiles, but they all can use the free HOME just fine..

[djsquiggy]

I'm not sure if we are on the same page.  I'm trying to figure out the safest way to gen previous generation Pokemon so that I can give it to people in my group without worrying about either party getting banned.

[Skauge]

7 minutes ago, djsquiggy said:

Sorry I keep posting the same thing here and on messages. I'll just continue on here so others can chime in.

 

For example: I make a Zekrom in PKHex and put it directly to Sword and Shield with 000000 tracker. If I put that in Home after, it will assign it a unique ID, but wouldn't they detect that it should have had a Home tracker already since it should have came from a previous gen?

Of course this could be bad... if Home is set to detect it. I think both options of faking and not assigning a tracker are bad. The lesser of two evils would be not assigning a tracker. It's very well possible they are looking at pokemon like solgaleo and zekrom and realizing that it's impossible for it to not have a home tracker if it was legitimate. However they may also have trackers attached to mons… so faking and using a tracker of say a litten and attaching it to zekrom would also have them detecting an illegal mon that should've been a litten. 

So the lesser of two evils is not attaching a tracker. I say both are bad but using a tracker code from another mon is more dangerous. Either way they could have systems in place to detect wrong codes or no codes on a mon that should have one. From what we know now, we know that if you do not have a tracking code, you will be assigned one. If you have a duplicate it is erased. That means the best option is to have home assign one. This is also assuming that having home assign a code means the mon is safe. For all we know that code could be detected as illegal from here on out and anyone with it will have it deleted in the future. We just don't know what their capabilities are... until we do (if ever), assuming that being assigned a code from home is safer than having a code from a different mon, is the best option. They could both be bad though still.

[theSLAYER]

@djsquiggy I should have mentioned that B is expendable. So as long as it's not a console ban (not piracy so unlikely), your console will stay safe.

While I do not work for GF, I would imagine they won't ban people for receiving mons with hacked trackers or lack of tracker.
So many people could be innocent parties receiving stuff by trade, they can't just up and ban all of them.

I mean, they have bad hack checks. If they wanted to ban people, then they should have done that in the previous eras, all the people with impossible shiny Hoopas or all mega teams..

Even if they do decide to ban the one who gave the Zekrom a tracker (tho the person who received it may be an unwitting party),
ultimately it'll be the B profile who imported it. Thus your A/main profile is safe.

I didn't give a long chain of steps just for fun, though I admit I might have skipped a few pages along the way.
This explanation should cover most to all bases you were concerned with.

 

But whatever, ultimately do at your own risk.

[djsquiggy]

I totally see where you're coming from now, but I'm not assigning a home tracker from one pokemon to another. I just received a Pikachu Kalos Hat from someone who traded it from their own Home to me. I then imported it to PKHex and cloned it. They all have the same tracker. Now if I give it to 5 different people, what then? Btw, I wouldn't be putting the clones in my Home.

[theSLAYER]

5 minutes ago, djsquiggy said:

I totally see where you're coming from now, but I'm not assigning a home tracker from one pokemon to another. I just received a Pikachu Kalos Hat from someone who traded it from their own Home to me. I then imported it to PKHex and cloned it. They all have the same tracker. Now if I give it to 5 different people, what then? Btw, I wouldn't be putting the clones in my Home.

Well, your example was assigning a tracker to a blank tracker Zekrom, hence my passage.


If I were to advise you, blank out all the trackers of the clones, then import them into B, to give them all unique trackers, then trade em away to your friends.
(if you clone the mon, the tracker is no longer unique. Hence the step below to give them all unique trackers)
To go back to my previous passage, B's HOME is expendable. Also as I said, HOME is able to gain access to other saves of profiles on the same console.

So going back to my example, inject the save into B, then deposit into B's HOME, then use B's HOME to withdraw into A's PC.

[djsquiggy]

OO that Zekrom example was in reply to Kaphoptics. I haven't been doing that at all. I've just been cloning the Pokemon that people trade me from Home

[Jabberwock]

If I create Meltan in swsh and leave the tracker blank then put it in home it will be safer, right? better than edit the one with the value? 

[GenWunner]

32 minutes ago, Jabberwock said:

If I create Meltan in swsh and leave the tracker blank then put it in home it will be safer, right? better than edit the one with the value? 

Read what Skauge said. 

Also to anyone asking what the "safest" option is, no one here works at gf or Nintendo. 

There is only one absolutely safe option which is to gen the mons legally in 3ds games and transfer them into home. 

As for swsh safety what skauge said is pretty definitive 

[Doublinski]

I am confused. What I'm trying to do is clone my current pokemon in case the servers go bad in Pokemon Home. I noticed that Pkhex has "0123456789ABCDEF" by default in the Home tracker label. Do I change this to 0s? erase it? leave it?

[Kaphotics]

6 minutes ago, Doublinski said:

I am confused. What I'm trying to do is clone my current pokemon in case the servers go bad in Pokemon Home. I noticed that Pkhex has "0123456789ABCDEF" by default in the Home tracker label. Do I change this to 0s? erase it? leave it?

Ignore it if you aren't editing a SWSH save file / pk8 files. It should be hidden for prior format editing, but we missed it before pushing the last release.

[Dublephil]

I'm trying to gen some event pokemon in my USUM file to bring them over to Pokemon Home. From what I understand, to prevent these Pokemon from being deleted, I just have to leave/ignore the tracker label/value and edit it so that I would be unique to me? (e.g. changing OT to my own name, editing IVs/EVs, date met/received)

[official7ri]

52 minutes ago, Dublephil said:

I'm trying to gen some event pokemon in my USUM file to bring them over to Pokemon Home. From what I understand, to prevent these Pokemon from being deleted, I just have to leave/ignore the tracker label/value and edit it so that I would be unique to me? (e.g. changing OT to my own name, editing IVs/EVs, date met/received)

Yes, if you edit previous generation files, just ignore the tracker ID since those mons don't have any tracker. Tracking ID will only assigned when it goes from bank -> HOME. Also, changing OT, IVs/EVs, date met, etc. doesn't affect its (Tracking ID) uniqueness. You can edit the pokemon however you like so it can be unique to yourself.

[Dublephil]

4 minutes ago, official7ri said:

Yes, if you edit previous generation files, just ignore the tracker ID since those mons don't have any tracker. Tracking ID will only assigned when it goes from bank -> HOME. Also, changing OT, IVs/EVs, date met, etc. doesn't affect its (Tracking ID) uniqueness. You can edit the pokemon however you like so it can be unique to yourself.

Okay thank you! So the main problem arises when you upload a Pokemon into Home and then clone it (for a giveaway for example) and then give it away to Person B who uploads it to his home (which would then be deleted if the tracker value is not removed)?

[official7ri]

7 minutes ago, Dublephil said:

Okay thank you! So the main problem arises when you upload a Pokemon into Home and then clone it (for a giveaway for example) and then give it away to Person B who uploads it to his home (which would then be deleted if the tracker value is not removed)?

That should be answered in previous replies.

[Tombec94]

I don't know if this was asked before: what happens if i have 2 cloned pokemon in bank and transfer them on HOME? Do they get sssigned the same tracking code? Then if i trade one of them to a friend what happens?

Sorry i am not a native english speaker and i am quite confused by what i read right now.

Edited February 15, 2020 by Tombec94

[official7ri]

19 minutes ago, Tombec94 said:

I don't know if this was asked before: what happens if i have 2 cloned pokemon in bank and transfer them on HOME? Do they get sssigned the same tracking code? Then if i trade one of them to a friend what happens?

Sorry i am not a native english speaker and i am quite confused by what i read right now.

Change their PID/EC and what not so they are not 100% identical before moving to HOME is your best bet. I'm not entirely sure how tracking ID is generated but I doubt HOME would compare each pokemon from Bank to see if they are identical (that's why tracking ID exists); therefore, it should treat your clones as different pokemon. In any case that it does check for clones in each deposit batch, you can always use Batch Editor to easily change their PID/EC in bulk.

[djsquiggy]

Maybe the best thing is to tell people not to put any clones back into Home after receiving them from giveaways, etc?

[albertosaiz95]

If I make Ditto's Clones on Pokémon UltraSun and try to send them to HOME, would work without modifying any value? Or what is the value I should set it blank? PID, SID or TID?

Edited February 16, 2020 by albertosaiz95

[Hello, it's me!]

Real Talk : As a pkhexer, do you REALLY even need HOME to transfer over your previous gen mons ?

.

Frankly the only reason i use it is to get the  gift pokemon and maybe complete some of those challenges