DEF CON 34 · United States · 2026

DEF CON 34 Badge

Planned electronic Human badge with SAO specs

DEF CON's official preregistration copy guarantees an onsite DEF CON 34 Human badge, an official badge-alert post says DEF CON 34 is an electronic badge year, and the official media server publishes DC34 SAO electrical and mechanical specifications that make the 2026 badge a source-backed planned electronic-badge record.

DEF CON United States Planned Badge Electronic Badge Human Badge SAO I2C USB-C AA Battery North America

EventDEF CON 34

SeriesDEF CON

LocationLVCC West Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada

CountryUnited States

People

Authors & Credits

event, registration, and badge-spec publisher

DEF CON Communications

DEF CON's homepage, official ticket page, and media server establish the DEF CON 34 event context, Human badge preregistration guarantee, and public DC34 SAO specification trail.

Source

inferred DC34 badge designer from SAO spec metadata

bunnie (Andrew Huang)

The official DC34 SAO spec sheet's Adobe Illustrator metadata names bunnie as the document author, aligning with DEF CON's hardware-hacking-legend teaser. DEF CON has not publicly named the designer and bunnie has not publicly confirmed involvement, so this credit is inferential from document metadata rather than an official attribution.

Source

Why It Mattered

It keeps the main DEF CON lineage current before the August 2026 event while marking the evidence boundary clearly: public sources prove a planned Human badge, official electronic-badge-year teaser, and electronic SAO interface constraints, but not final artwork, firmware, puzzle behavior, shipped production details, or a rights-cleared image.

Hardware

The SAO spec calls for 3.0 V VDD, a tested 100 mA total supply across both SAOs, two AA batteries, USB-C power-bank behavior that keeps the badge continuously on, GPIO4 as an open-drain CPU wake-up interrupt, other GPIOs with pull-up or pull-down resistors from 2.2 kOhm to about 47 kOhm, I2C devices at 0x3C and 0x19, and mirrored unkeyed female 6-pin SAO headers with published clearance dimensions, per the official DC34 SAO spec sheet.

Software & Apps

No public DEF CON 34 badge firmware, game, bootloader, challenge source, or final badge archive is documented in this pass. The record is therefore limited to the official preregistration and SAO specification material until the event or media archive publishes more.

Lore

DEF CON's 2026 homepage places DEF CON 34 at LVCC West Hall on August 6-9, 2026 and frames the theme as Agency. The preregistration notice says guaranteed Human badges must be redeemed onsite and grant one human full access to the DEF CON floor during open hours; the official badge-alert post teases a hardware-hacking-legend electronic badge, calls it a first-of-its-kind inspectable platform, and leaves final details for later. The official SAO spec sheet's Adobe Illustrator metadata names bunnie as the document author, which aligns with the hardware-hacking-legend teaser, but DEF CON has not publicly named the designer and bunnie has not publicly confirmed involvement, so the designer attribution stays inferential rather than official.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

add-on connector pre-event spec

Dual SAO electrical interface

The official DC34 SAO specification documents 3.0 V VDD, 100 mA tested total supply across both SAOs, GPIO pins, I2C devices at 0x3C and 0x19, and mirrored unkeyed 6-pin SAO headers.

Compatibility: DEF CON 34 Badge

Source

power system pre-event spec

Two-AA and USB-C power behavior

The SAO spec states that the badge is powered by two AA batteries and that USB-C power-bank operation keeps the badge continuously on.

Compatibility: DEF CON 34 Badge

Source

pre-event badge teaser official pre-event update

Electronic badge year teaser

DEF CON's official badge-alert post says DEF CON 34 is an electronic badge year, that the badge comes from a hardware hacking legend, and that the SAO spec sheet is early support for add-on projects.

Compatibility: DEF CON 34 Badge

Source

registration artifact planned

Guaranteed preregistration Human badge

DEF CON's official ticket page says preregistration guarantees a DEF CON 34 Human badge when the ticket is redeemed onsite in Las Vegas.

Compatibility: DEF CON 34 registration

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

firmware and artifact archive gap note

The public source trail currently documents SAO electrical and mechanical constraints but not badge firmware, bootloader behavior, challenge source, final PCB files, BOM, shipped role variants, or production notes.

Hardware and software fields stay limited to the official SAO spec until DEF CON publishes final badge files or credible post-event technical documentation.

Confidence: source-backed but incomplete
Status: needs post-event archive
Timeframe: pre-event catalogue build
Source note: DC34 SAO spec PDF and DEF CON media-server badge directory path.

missing rights-cleared image note

No DEF CON 34 image is published because no final original badge photo or official reusable raster render with source URL, license, attribution, and processing notes has been recovered.

The entry stays image-free rather than copying ticket graphics, registration art, media-server diagrams, social-media previews, or generated badge art.

Confidence: local project policy
Status: needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe: pre-event catalogue build
Source note: badge.gallery image policy and DEF CON 34 source trail.

planned badge caveat note

The DEF CON 34 record is seeded before the event from official preregistration, badge-alert, and SAO specification sources.

The catalogue can document the planned Human badge, official electronic-badge-year teaser, and public electronic interface constraints now, but it must not claim final shipped artwork, firmware, badge-game rules, manufacturing quantities, or all attendee-role variants until post-event sources appear.

Confidence: official pre-event sources
Status: pre-event
Timeframe: before DEF CON 34, August 6-9, 2026
Source note: DEF CON homepage, DEF CON 34 official shop page, DEF CON badge-alert post, and DC34 SAO spec PDF.

Resources

DEF CON 34 SAO specification badge specification · Official media-server PDF documenting DC34 SAO electrical and mechanical constraints, including 3.0 V VDD, two-AA badge power, USB-C power-bank behavior, GPIO wake interrupt, I2C addresses, and mirrored 6-pin SAO header dimensions. DEF CON 34 badge alert official social update · Official DEF CON update stating that DEF CON 34 is an electronic badge year, that more details are coming, and that the public SAO spec sheet is pre-event support for add-on makers. DEF CON 34 homepage event page · Official DEF CON source for August 6-9, 2026 dates, LVCC West Hall location, Agency theme, and preregistration news linking to the official ticket page. DEF CON 34 ticket page registration page · Official shop source stating that preregistration guarantees a DEF CON 34 Human badge, that badges must be picked up onsite, and that onsite registration begins Thursday, August 6, 2026.

Sources

DEF CON: DEF CON 34 Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official homepage source for DEF CON 34 dates, LVCC West Hall location, Agency theme, and preregistration news. DEF CON: DEF CON 34 Badge Alert: SAO Edition Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official social source for DEF CON 34 being an electronic badge year, a hardware-hacking-legend teaser, and the pre-event SAO spec sheet release. DEF CON Media Server: DC34 Badge SAO Electrical Spec Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official badge-spec PDF source for 3.0 V SAO VDD, dual-SAO supply limit, two-AA badge power, USB-C continuous-power behavior, GPIO wake interrupt, I2C addresses, and SAO header mechanical constraints. DEF CON Merchandise: DEF CON 34 Las Vegas Convention Center Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official shop source for the preregistration guarantee of an onsite DEF CON 34 Human badge and the onsite pickup requirement.