as i’m reading the badblocks manpage, i think you’re referring to the -w parameter. The manpage states This option may not be combined with the -n option, as they are mutually exclusive.
(-n = Use non-destructive read-write mode.)
i.e. sudo badblocks -w /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-MAKE_SURE_ITS_THE_RIGHT_ONE #lol
EDIT:
i’ve stumbled over the 32 bit issue in badblocks. Now, i’m running the following command on my failed 6TB Ultrastar
badblocks -sw -t random -b 4096 /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-MAKE_SURE_ITS_THE_RIGHT_ONE
-sshow status-wwrite destructively-trandom test pattern-bblock size, should be specified if you run into “must be 32 bit” issues
…i know, it’s futile, since it’s already diagnosed via SMART and the RMA has been filed - i just want to see what a fail looks like, and you can’t break what’s already broken
…for science 
EDIT 2:
…sorry, i forgot to post the result of badblocksing that failed Ultrastar; you’ll get a long list of failed sectors/LBAs - if badblocks finishes without lots of numbers, it’s fine. About a month ago, i’ve finished my “hot-prod-burn-in” procedure.
hot-prod-burn-in procedure
Burning-in HDDs after provisioning 'em to a hot-production array.
It involved using a cold spare and zpool replaceing every HDD in the 4-way-Z1-pool, badblocksing it, and zpool replaceing the next one with the previous “validation PASS”.
fun fact
after zpool replaceing every single HDD in that 4-way-Z1-pool zpool scrub finishes much earlier, with higher overall throughput.