One message, three different causes
Every code page tells you the code is dead. Most of the time that is wrong. A code can be alive, correctly typed and still refused, and the screen gives you the same sentence for all of it. Sort the cause before you go looking for a newer list.
| What you see | What is actually wrong | What fixes it | Retry? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange failed — code already used up | The code is spent: claimed on this account before, or used by everyone else if it was shared widely enough to hit its limit. | Nothing. It is single-use. | No |
| A valid-looking code refused with no reason | The account is on a server the code does not cover. | Enter it on an account on a covered server, or stop trying that code. | Only on the right server |
| The redeem screen hangs, nothing changes | The redemption screen itself, not the code. | Wait about two minutes, or restart the game. | Yes |
There is a fourth failure that is not on this table because it is a different page: the redemption website refusing to sign you in, or answering with a rate-limit message. That one is a route problem and we answered the questions players ask about it separately.
The questions, in the words they were asked
Everything quoted below is copied as written, including the typos. These come from the player threads we follow while tracking codes; they are not official statements and we have not verified the individual posts. The section each one came from is named underneath it.
“Exchange Failed. Redemption code already used up.”
From the section we keep for Honkai Impact 3rd codes.
This one is not a bug and not a fresh-code problem. Codes are single-use, so a code that has been claimed on your account is spent for your account, and a code that has been posted publicly can reach its usage limit and be spent for everybody. In both cases the string is still valid and still printed on the page you found it — it has simply already been consumed. Trying it again cannot change that.
“Problem redeeming codes”
From the section we keep for Honkai Impact 3rd codes.
Too vague to answer on its own, which is the point: the same words cover a spent code, a wrong server and a screen that never finishes. Before anything else, check the server. On that game the promotional codes the sources carry are Global only — NA and EU — and on SEA, CN, JP or KR they will not work at all, no matter how new they are. That is the cheapest thing to rule out, and it is the one failure on this page that a retry on the right account can actually fix.
“It stays like that for a few minutes and nothing changes, I do have internet, can someone explain?”
From the section we keep for Honkai Impact 3rd codes.
This is the third cause and the least serious. The replies to that question, from players who hit the same thing, agree with each other: wait about two minutes, or restart the game. It is their answer rather than a published instruction from the developer, and we are reporting it as what they say. The important part is the sorting: a hanging screen is not a dead code, so do not go and burn a different code because of it.
“Huh, could have sworn I had some of these already, but it told me all were accepted.”
From the section we keep for Zenless Zone Zero codes.
Accepted does not mean gained. On these redemption pages a code you have already claimed is often accepted again and then delivered as an in-game mail telling you that you have already claimed it. The line we keep from the same thread spells it out: the site will still accept the code, you will just get a mail saying you have already redeemed it. So a run of “accepted” results is not evidence that you collected anything — the mailbox is where that is decided.
“Anyone having issue of not able to do daily check-in / redeem gift code due to…”
From the section we keep for Zenless Zone Zero codes.
When the same report covers a daily check-in and a code redeem, the fault is almost certainly not the code — both features go through the same signed-in session, so it is the route that is failing. The follow-up in that thread is the tell: the player could log in through the companion app while the browser gave them a rate-limit message. If the code is being refused on a route that also cannot check you in, treat it as a route problem and use the in-game box instead.
What we cannot tell you about this
We cannot see your account. Nothing on this page tells you whether your copy of a code has been claimed — that is recorded on the game's side, not on any code list, including ours. What we can do is keep a date on every code we track, so you at least know whether the list you are working from has been touched recently. That is the whole reason the status column exists on our Genshin Impact list and on the other games we track.
The same limit applies to the hanging screen. Two minutes is what the players who reported it say worked for them; we have not measured it, and we are not going to present someone else's guess as a rule.
Frequently asked questions
Does “already used up” mean the code has expired?
No. Expired and spent are different things. An expired code was switched off for everyone; a spent code was consumed, either by you already or by whoever got to it first. Both are refused, which is why they get confused.
Can I tell whether I already claimed a code?
Only from your own account, and often only indirectly. On several of these games an already-claimed code is accepted and then answered with a mail saying so, so the mailbox is the place that settles it rather than the redemption screen.
Why did a code work for my friend and not for me?
Most often the server. On Honkai Impact 3rd the promotional codes the sources carry are Global only, covering NA and EU, so an account on SEA, CN, JP or KR is refused a code that is genuinely alive. The second most common reason is that your friend got there first — codes are single-use.
Should I keep retrying a code that failed?
Only if the screen was hanging, or if you typed it on the wrong server or the wrong account. If the answer was that it is already used up, retrying does nothing at all.
Is it worth trying old codes just in case?
It is cheap, and players in the threads we follow do exactly that. Keep the expectation calibrated though: a code that is accepted is not proof you gained anything, and a code that is refused is not proof the list you used was wrong.