GameBanana 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app
By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5
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Your GameBanana account is what you use to upload and download game mods, maps and skins and post on the forums. GameBanana opened two-factor authentication (2FA) to every member in September 2021, with a single method: an authenticator app (GameBanana).
2FA is optional. A GameBanana admin explained that it isn't forced on anyone, but members with extra privileges or many submissions get a notification asking them to turn it on (GameBanana). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.
How we checked this guide: the GameBanana steps come from GameBanana's own site-update posts and from answers by GameBanana staff on its forums, linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. GameBanana has no help article on 2FA, and its announcement is from 2021, so we couldn't confirm what today's setup screen looks like. We haven't tested the steps on a GameBanana account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
The announcement puts the setting under Settings > 2FA, with two conditions: you prove the app works by entering one of its codes, and you confirm with your password (GameBanana).
- Sign in on gamebanana.com and go to Settings > 2FA.
- Add GameBanana to Novaz. GameBanana doesn't describe the setup screen, so we can't say whether it shows a QR code, a text key, or both.
- For a QR code: in Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code. If the code is on the iPhone you're holding, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
- For a text key: tap +, then Enter key manually. Type GameBanana as the Service and the key as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
- Enter the current code from Novaz and your GameBanana password to finish.
GameBanana doesn't publish how long its codes are or how often they change. If you're offered a QR code, scan it: it carries the code settings to Novaz, while a key typed by hand always gets 6-digit codes that change every 30 seconds.
When GameBanana asks for a code
Not at every sign-in. GameBanana asks for the code when you sign in from an IP address it doesn't recognize (GameBanana), as a GameBanana admin also confirmed on the site's Q&A forum (GameBanana). Your IP usually changes when you switch networks or turn on a VPN, so have Novaz ready then.
The 2021 post also promised prompts after time away from the site, such as two weeks. GameBanana hasn't said since whether that shipped. Later updates improved how the site remembers your devices (GameBanana) and made pasting a 2FA code sign you in straight away (GameBanana).
The emailed Authcode is something else
Since July 2023 you can sign in with only your email address. GameBanana emails you a 6-character Authcode to paste into the sign-in form, and Settings > Login can make that the only way in (GameBanana). It has nothing to do with Novaz. The post doesn't say whether the site also asks for your authenticator code when you sign in this way.
No backup codes
None of GameBanana's posts mention backup or recovery codes, or a second method. Unless you turn on iCloud backup or export a backup file in Novaz, its keys exist only on your iPhone. Then that iPhone is your only source of codes, and if it's gone, you'll need GameBanana's staff.
If GameBanana rejects your code
GameBanana has no written advice on rejected codes. When a member couldn't get 2FA to activate in 2021, tom, a GameBanana Super Admin, replied under the announcement and sent them to the site-bugs channel on GameBanana's Discord (GameBanana).
Before you report anything, check the iPhone's clock, the usual cause: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?
Changing phones or turning 2FA off
Turning 2FA off takes the same two things as turning it on, your password and a working code, in Settings > 2FA (GameBanana). GameBanana doesn't describe a way to move 2FA to a new phone, so do it in two steps while the old iPhone still makes codes: turn 2FA off, then set it up again on the new phone. With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can restore your accounts on the new iPhone instead. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
If you lose your authenticator
The only route GameBanana staff have described is a support ticket. A member whose new phone made codes the site wouldn't accept was told by a GameBanana Super Moderator: "You make a support ticket." (GameBanana). Tickets go through the Support Tickets section, under Add Support Ticket.
GameBanana doesn't say whether you can open a ticket while signed out, what proof of ownership it wants, or how long it takes. If a browser is still signed in to your account, open the ticket from there.
More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
Official GameBanana help
- 2FA now available (2021)
- Various Tweaks (2021)
- Site Changelog (2021)
- Email-based login (2023)
- Question regarding the 2FA feature. (staff answer)
- Need help resynchronizing 2FA from a new phone. (staff answer)
- Support Tickets
