Friend Code

A Friend Code (Japanese: ともだちコード Friend Code) is a unique twelve-digit code generated once the player has logged onto the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection on their Wii or DS for the first time or during the set-up process on their 3DS. It is used to identify friends for online play. In Generation IV and V, players can view their games' Friend Code by using their Pal Pad once the player has logged into Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. In Generation VI and VII, the player can do so through the Friend List application on the top portion of the 3DS.

Registering the Friend Codes of other players allows them to be able to communicate with each other from any location in the world that has Internet. Players with Friend Codes have access to many online activities, such as trading, battling, voice chat, and co-op play.

Nintendo DS
Each Friend Code differs between games, to make each game have a separate 'identity'. To prevent identity theft, Friend Codes, along with the Wi-Fi ID on a DS, are reset when Wi-Fi Connection is used on another DS. Wi-Fi information can be transferred in the case of replacing an old DS.

There are multiple ways to register another player's Friend Code:
 * Both the recipient and transmitter can manually type each other's code in their Pal Pad. This process was created in order to preserve each player's identity and privacy from a person who has the code of the other, but not vice-versa.
 * In Pokémon games for the Nintendo DS, two players can register each other after meeting in the Union Room.
 * Using the C-Gear, players can swap Friend Codes via infrared in Generation V.

The games will not accept all Friend Codes manually entered into the Pal Pad and will display that "the Friend Code is wrong" if a code (e.g. 0000-0000-0000) is not valid. The Friend Codes from games of certain languages may be incompatible with other games, such as when a Korean Friend Code is inserted in an English game.

Prior to the April 2011 update, players who have added and met each other online in the game will automatically become neighbors in the Pokémon Dream World. A similar feature occurs in Join Avenue.

Nintendo 3DS
Each friend code is stored on the 3DS and stays the same unless the 3DS is reformatted. A player needs to have the 3DS friend code of the other player and give their friend code before they can communicate with each other.

To register another player's friend code:
 * 1) Both the recipient and transmitter can manually type each other's code in their Friend List. A valid code can be submitted and registered, but it cannot be used to communicate until both players register each other and confirm it through Wi-Fi.
 * 2) Using the Friend List, both players can use infrared communications to register each other.
 * 3) Some applications can perform the registration for the players in certain circumstances, like when two players which are acquaintances with each other in the PSS perform a battle or trade in any Generation VI Pokémon game.

Registering a friend code will force any application active into a suspended state and will deactivate any current Wi-Fi communications that are active for that application (unless the application itself does the registration, in which case it is unaffected by the registration). As with games from past generations, the 3DS will inform the player if a specific friend code is not a valid code.

It is against the Miiverse code of conduct to share friend codes using Miiverse.

In other languages
Freundescode Código de amigo Code Ami ともだちコード