DMARC rf= Tag: Report Format (rf)

The DMARC rf tag specifies the format for forensic reports. Removed in RFC 9989 (DMARCbis). If present in existing records, receivers may ignore it.

Published · Last verified · Maintained by TamingDNS

Importance
Optional
Tag
rf=
Default
afrf
Example
rf=afrf
⚠️ Removed in DMARCbis (RFC 9989, May 2026). The report-format tag was dropped because only the AFRF format was ever used in practice. Existing records keep working at older receivers; new records should leave this tag out. More on DMARCbis →

✅ Valid Values

afrf

💬 What This Tag Does

The "rf" tag specified the format for forensic failure reports. Only "afrf" (Authentication Failure Reporting Format, RFC 6591) was ever defined. This tag was removed in RFC 9989 (DMARCbis). It is no longer part of the DMARC specification. If present in an existing record, receivers may ignore it. There is no need to include it in new records.

📋 Complete Example Records

Every one of these is a complete record you can paste as it stands. Each goes in a TXT record at _dmarc.yourdomain.com. Check yours with the DMARC Checker or assemble one in the DMARC Builder.

v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc-feedback@example.com; ruf=mailto:auth-reports@example.com; rf=afrf

The legacy form, still valid to publish. IANA lists "rf" as historic, so a receiver built to RFC 9989 has no reason to act on it.

v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc-feedback@example.com; ruf=mailto:auth-reports@example.com

The same record with the tag dropped, which is what to publish now. Failure report formats are covered by RFC 9991 instead.

v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc-feedback@example.com; rf=afrf

This one is inert twice over: "rf" is historic, and it described the format of failure reports that this record never asks for.

🛡️ Related Tools

Analyse your current DMARC record, build a new one, or read the aggregate reports that tell you whether the policy is safe to tighten.

DMARC Analyser → DMARC Builder → DMARC Report Viewer → SPF Checker →
← All DMARC tags