diff --git a/packages/db/src/bans/is-ban-active.test.ts b/packages/db/src/bans/is-ban-active.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9b63bfb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/db/src/bans/is-ban-active.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
+import { isBanActive } from "./is-ban-active.js";
+
+describe("isBanActive", () => {
+  const now = 1_700_000_000; // fixed unix seconds
+
+  it("is active when ban_expire is in the future", () => {
+    expect(isBanActive({ banExpire: now + 100 }, now)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("is inactive when ban_expire is in the past", () => {
+    expect(isBanActive({ banExpire: now - 100 }, now)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("is inactive when ban_expire equals now (Laravel uses strict >)", () => {
+    expect(isBanActive({ banExpire: now }, now)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("is inactive for the default 0 expiry", () => {
+    expect(isBanActive({ banExpire: 0 }, now)).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/db/src/bans/is-ban-active.ts b/packages/db/src/bans/is-ban-active.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..53c7a5b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/db/src/bans/is-ban-active.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+// Mirrors Laravel's active-ban query: where('ban_expire', '>', time()).
+// ban_expire and now are both unix timestamps in seconds.
+export function isBanActive(ban: { banExpire: number }, nowUnixSeconds: number): boolean {
+  return ban.banExpire > nowUnixSeconds;
+}