Pretendo ACNL Functionality

[matt]

Coming soon, ACNL features Available via pretendo network:

Animal Crossing: New Leaf in testing & more

Hey everyone, we have some exciting news to share: Animal Crossing: New Leaf is now available to beta testers! (Thanks to shoginyan) While Dream Suite is not currently available (still a work in progress), the rest of the online functionality is available. Super Smash Bros for Wii U & 3DS are...

forum.pretendo.network

Would you consider playing online on ACNL again?

 

[Beanz]

yes!! i've been waiting for this. i already use pretendo servers for MK7 so the fact that it's coming soon for ACNL is exciting. i'm happy that i will be able to do online trading again which will definitely get me back on the game again, the only worry is that there will possibly be an influx of malicious hackers.

 

[matt]

yes!! i've been waiting for this. i already use pretendo servers for MK7 so the fact that it's coming soon for ACNL is exciting. i'm happy that i will be able to do online trading again which will definitely get me back on the game again, the only worry is that there will possibly be an influx of malicious hackers.

I remember when I linked pretendo to override my existing Nintendo account I lost my mario kart 8 progress online. Is there anything you can think of that might get erased from ACNL?

 

[Beanz]

I remember when I linked pretendo to override my existing Nintendo account I lost my mario kart 8 progress online. Is there anything you can think of that might get erased from ACNL?

was your game digital or on a physical cardridge? i don’t remember that happening to me - and i have MK7 digitally.

i can’t think of anything getting erased from ACNL online except for maybe earned medals from tortimer’s island.

 

[matt]

was your game digital or on a physical cardridge? i don’t remember that happening to me - and i have MK7 digitally.

i can’t think of anything getting erased from ACNL online except for maybe earned medals from tortimer’s island.

The actual online player account had about 5000 points, changed to 0. Its a disc. Maybe the points were stored on NNID that got changed

 

[Bruscoe]

My 3DS is already hacked, so if this gets back up and running, I may swing back into New Leaf again for that nostalgia trip. I didn’t use the online features at all when they were still up originally (as a member of TBT), so this might be exciting if it all works as expected.

I also gotta wait and see how many TBT users are willing to get Pretendo onto their consoles. Hacking a system isn’t for everyone, even if it’s discontinued.

 

[matt]

Pretendo doesn't involve hacking. You simply point your DNS on the console settings to the pretendo servers and that's it, or something like that. My Wii U is still fully stock in terms of authenticity. I've never hacked a console

 

[kindheartedhog]

I'll be very happy to be able to play New Leaf online again, not sure how complex it will be to set up but I definitely want to!

 

[matt]

Sorry didn't realise this required hacking/modifying your console. When I set up my Wii U for Mario Kart 8 the only thing I needed to change was some DNS settings for SSSL. Turns out 3ds modding is required for pretendo how sad.

 

[culu]

it seems like pretendo is up for new leaf today !! i have a hacked console , and i would really like to play online !!

 

[neptoons]

pretendo is up!!

 

[Nuguns]

hey! i just heard the news!

 

[matt]

When I can afford to buy a card reader I'll consider this, I really miss club tortimer

 

[malekmaroc7]

I am in to play! Finally

My FC: 5425-6262-7805

 

[LinDUNguin]

Just as an update for anyone trying to get this functioning, it seems that as of August 2025 the Pretendo ACNL servers are down due to an RCE exploit. If you want the latest developments it looks like the Pretendo devs will update on this thread:

Animal Crossing: New Leaf unavailable due to exploit

Is New Leaf still down?

forum.pretendo.network

 

[titanium sparrow]

I cant get that link to load at the moment, so I'm just gonna ask here.
Did they bring back ACNL on Pretendo yet? And one can use it on non-hacked DS yes? Is there a guide on the Pretendo forum?
Also, will there be complications when going local and non-local back and forth? Like if I do a local visit, do I have to re-do something to be able to connect with Pretendo after?

Does it enable messaging friends again in-game? Does it make the Dream Suite work again? Street Pass? Would love to know exactly what will be working and not from anyone who's tried it! ^.^

 

[*~ Croissant ~*]

I cant get that link to load at the moment, so I'm just gonna ask here.
Did they bring back ACNL on Pretendo yet? And one can use it on non-hacked DS yes? Is there a guide on the Pretendo forum?
Also, will there be complications when going local and non-local back and forth? Like if I do a local visit, do I have to re-do something to be able to connect with Pretendo after?

Does it enable messaging friends again in-game? Does it make the Dream Suite work again? Street Pass? Would love to know exactly what will be working and not from anyone who's tried it! ^.^

Would love to know the answers to all these questions also~

 

[ronan.outoftime]

I cant get that link to load at the moment, so I'm just gonna ask here.
Did they bring back ACNL on Pretendo yet? And one can use it on non-hacked DS yes? Is there a guide on the Pretendo forum?
Also, will there be complications when going local and non-local back and forth? Like if I do a local visit, do I have to re-do something to be able to connect with Pretendo after?

Does it enable messaging friends again in-game? Does it make the Dream Suite work again? Street Pass? Would love to know exactly what will be working and not from anyone who's tried it! ^.^

i cant 100% answer every question unfortunately as i havent tried playing the game with it yet but i can try to answer a few for you :]
yes it is back, iirc the pretendo team have developed a custom update to patch the exploit out, and modding your 3ds is required to use pretendo. you can find the guide to installing it here ^^
theoretically it should re-enable every online service so messaging friends + the dream suite should work totally fine. im not sure about the reconnecting after local bit though. streetpass* is an entirely local thing so it still works even after nintendo shut down online, whereas nintendo network + spotpass are discontinued.
sorry i couldnt give you a perfect answer on everything but i hope ive been able to help a little bit!!


*also for what its worth if you decide to mod your console, netpass is a thing now too! i dont really know how it works but basically it allows you to get streetpass tags online, its a game changer for me personally since no one really brings their 3ds out and about with them anymore so genuine tags are very rare now

 

[*~ Croissant ~*]

@ronan.outoftime Thanks for your answers! I didnt even know I needed it, but I stumbled on this thread wandering around the forums and I realize that ACNL is an absolute NEED and not a want. But the very last part about netpass sounds so incredible! I only ever got ONE person on Streetpass the whole 10 to 12 years I’ve had my 3DS and it was the saddest thing ever.

 

[ronan.outoftime]

@ronan.outoftime Thanks for your answers! I didnt even know I needed it, but I stumbled on this thread wandering around the forums and I realize that ACNL is an absolute NEED and not a want. But the very last part about netpass sounds so incredible! I only ever got ONE person on Streetpass the whole 10 to 12 years I’ve had my 3DS and it was the saddest thing ever.

i hope you end up enjoying the game if you get it!! i got my copy in maybe 2014 and its still one of my favourite games ever :]