This fork of the upstream repo is intended to be temp backup of the 3DS parental control unlocker tool mkey.salthax.org in case the site does not quickly update with latest 3DS firmware (which is often the case). It is intended to be run offline.
Compatible with: 1.0-11.16 US,EU,JP,KR,TW,CN
- You need python3 installed and windows.
- Attempt to unlock your parental controls from your 3DS's System Settings until it gives you an "Inquiry Number" (chose "I forgot" twice).
- Next, read the rem comments in the "mkey.bat" script in a text editor for the remaining instructions, then run the same .bat script.
- Your masterkey should be generated, which you can use to unlock your 3DS in System Settings. Note: A windows exe is also provided in the release tab. You simply launch it and follow directions.
mkey is a master key generator for the Parental Controls functionality on various consoles from a certain vendor. Currently, this includes the Wii, DSi, 3DS, Wii U and Switch.
This allows resetting Parental Controls (due to being locked out) without having to contact customer support.
If you would just like to use this, with no concern for the code or how it works, visit: https://mkey.nintendohomebrew.com/
v2 support was initially implemented in October 2015, and has been serving the above page since December 2015. v1 and Wii U support was added in January 2016. v0 support was added in April 2016. v3/Switch support was added in July 2017. v4 support was added in April 2019.
Python and C implementations are available in this repository. These function very similarly.
As of writing, system support is good - all algorithms in use are supported, provided one can extract the necessary keys from the system firmware.
For some algorithm versions (especially 3DS v2) many keys are required from the system firmware in order to generate master keys. These can differ between regions and system versions. The best documentation for these is in the code, which covers the situation on all supported devices.
The v4 algorithm on the Switch and likely any future algorithms also require a console-unique device ID stored on the system that Nintendo can retrieve using the separate, visible serial number one must provide via the support call. The security in this relies upon the device ID being hard to obtain by simply using the device. This would make the generator more of an academic exercise rather than a practical tool.
Some 3DS-specific documentation on the algorithms seen so far can be found at: https://3dbrew.org/wiki/System_Settings#Parental_Controls_Reset
mkey is distributed under the AGPLv3 license, see LICENSE.
ctr.c, ctr.h, utils.c and utils.h are taken from ctrtool, which is licensed under MIT, see LICENSE-ctrtool.
- marcan for the Wii reset tool: https://wii.marcan.st/parental
- neimod for the 3DS v0 reset tool: https://github.com/3dshax/ctr/commit/bcb3734b9a26d0fe7ef66f7d3814406fee797303
- SALT greetz: WulfyStylez and Shiny Quagsire (^:
- lifehackerhansol: getting the rest of the old masterkeys and a handy CVER scraper script