🚫 Spamhaus PBL
Why the Spamhaus PBL covers dynamic, residential and cloud IPs, and how to get removed if you actually run a mail server.
Published · Last verified · Maintained by TamingDNS
Our Blacklist Checker doesn't query this list
Spamhaus runs this zone, and it refuses lookups that come from shared hosting or public resolvers. Its free query service is for non-commercial users only. A check from our server would come back refused, or read clean when it isn't. Look the address or domain up at check.spamhaus.org instead. The listing details and return codes below still apply.
ℹ️ About This Blocklist
The Policy Block List is not a spam list. It is a directory of IP ranges that the operator says should never make direct SMTP connections: residential and dynamic ISP pools, default cloud VM ranges, hosting blocks not provisioned for mail.
What a Listing Means
Your IP sits inside a range the ISP or Spamhaus has declared non-mail. Either the ISP added it, or Spamhaus did. There is nothing wrong with the IP itself, only that it is supposed to relay through a smarthost.
🔢 DNSBL Return Codes
When listed, the DNSBL returns one of these 127.x.x.x addresses. The specific code indicates the reason for the listing.
| Return IP | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 127.0.0.10 | PBL: range listed by the ISP itself |
| 127.0.0.11 | PBL: range listed by Spamhaus |
✅ How to Request Delisting
If this is a real mail server on a static IP with a matching PTR and an actual sending purpose, apply for PBL removal through the Spamhaus Blocklist Removal Center. Otherwise the answer is to use your ISP's SMTP relay instead of sending direct-to-MX.
Request Removal from Spamhaus PBL ↗📚 Official Documentation
🔍 Check Your IP or Domain Against Spamhaus PBL
Run a live blacklist check against all 20 blocklists we monitor, including Spamhaus PBL.