emailrules.today

Census · re-probed hourly · 4 Aug 2026

Which blocklists are actually answering.

A checker can advertise sixty lists and quietly ask a dozen zones that answer nothing, and every one of those silences arrives as a green tick. This is the same question put to every zone at the same moment, using the entry each one is required by RFC 5782 to publish.

25
answering today
2
refusing automated queriers
21
publish no test entry

A zone that publishes no test entry is not reporting you clean. It is not reporting anything, and NXDOMAIN from an abandoned zone is indistinguishable from NXDOMAIN from a healthy one. That is why our own check asks fewer lists than it could and names every one it could not reach.

The 24 we query

Each one answered an entry it must publish, and one it must not, before we believed anything it said about anybody.

  • SpamCopbl.spamcop.net

    Addresses that sent mail reported by SpamCop users. Entries expire on their own once the reports stop.

    answering

  • PSBLpsbl.surriel.com

    Addresses observed sending to spam traps, submitted passively. Removal is self-service and immediate.

    answering

  • Mailspikebl.mailspike.net

    Addresses Mailspike scores as sending abuse, from its own live traffic sampling.

    answering

  • Spam Eating Monkeybl.spameatingmonkey.net

    Addresses seen sending spam to Spam Eating Monkey's own systems.

    answering

  • blocklist.debl.blocklist.de

    Addresses reported by participating servers for attacks and abuse, mail included. Entries age out.

    answering

  • 0SPAMbl.0spam.org

    Addresses caught by 0SPAM's trap network.

    answering

  • InterServerrbl.interserver.net

    Addresses InterServer observes sending spam into its own hosting network.

    answering

  • SPFBLdnsbl.spfbl.net

    Addresses with poor reputation in SPFBL's distributed reputation system.

    answering

  • GBUdb Truncatetruncate.gbudb.net

    Addresses GBUdb has only ever seen sending spam, with no legitimate traffic recorded.

    answering

  • s5h.netall.s5h.net

    Addresses s5h.net records as sources of spam and abuse.

    answering

  • ZapBLdnsbl.zapbl.net

    Addresses ZapBL's operators have chosen to list for spam or abuse.

    answering

  • SWINOGdnsrbl.swinog.ch

    Addresses caught by the Swiss Network Operators Group trap network.

    answering

  • Kemptdnsbl.kempt.net

    Addresses Kempt.net records as spam sources.

    answering

  • Anonmailsspam.dnsbl.anonmails.de

    Addresses caught by the Anonmails trap network.

    answering

  • Fabelspamsources.fabel.dk

    Addresses Fabel has recorded sending spam.

    answering

  • NoSolicitadobl.nosolicitado.org

    Addresses caught by the NoSolicitado trap network.

    answering

  • Schulterbl.schulte.org

    Addresses Schulte's operators list for spam and abuse.

    answering

  • JIPPGmail-abuse.blacklist.jippg.org

    Addresses reported for mail abuse to the Japan IP Providers Protection Group.

    answering

  • UCEPROTECT Level 1dnsbl-1.uceprotect.net

    Single addresses UCEPROTECT observed sending to its traps. Level 1 is the only one of the three that is about one address.

    answering

  • UCEPROTECT Level 2dnsbl-2.uceprotect.net

    Whole address ranges, listed when UCEPROTECT sees repeated Level 1 entries inside them. Your address can appear here having done nothing.

    answering

  • UCEPROTECT Level 3dnsbl-3.uceprotect.net

    Entire autonomous systems — every address a provider announces. An entry here is a statement about your provider, not about you.

    answering

  • Backscattererips.backscatterer.org

    Addresses that sent misdirected bounces or auto-replies. Its operators state plainly that this is not a spam list and should never be used to reject normal mail.

    answering

  • SEM Backscatterbackscatter.spameatingmonkey.net

    Addresses seen sending backscatter — bounces to forged senders. A different failure from sending spam.

    answering

  • URIBLmulti.uribl.com

    Domains appearing in the body of spam — the brand and link domains, not the sending address.

    answering

The 26 we do not

The list we refuse to query is the only evidence that the list we query means something. Every reason here is a fact about the zone or about its own published terms.

  • HILhil.habeas.com

    No nameserver answers for the zone.

    silent

  • MSRBL Spamspam.rbl.msrbl.net

    No nameserver answers for the zone.

    silent

  • MSRBL Phishingphishing.rbl.msrbl.net

    No nameserver answers for the zone.

    silent

  • SERVICESNETblacklist.sci.kun.nl

    No nameserver answers for the zone.

    silent

  • NETHERUNSUREunsure.nether.net

    No nameserver answers for the zone.

    silent

  • DRMXbl.drmx.org

    The zone resolves but publishes no RFC 5782 test entry.

    silent

  • SORBSdnsbl.sorbs.net

    Shut down in June 2024. The zone has no nameserver.

    silent

  • SORBS Spamspam.dnsbl.sorbs.net

    Shut down in June 2024. The zone has no nameserver.

    silent

  • LASHBACKubl.unsubscore.com

    No nameserver answers for the zone.

    silent

  • RBL JPall.rbl.jp

    No nameserver answers for the zone.

    silent

  • Konstantbl.konstant.no

    No nameserver answers for the zone.

    silent

  • TRIUMFrbl.triumf.ca

    No nameserver answers for the zone.

    silent

  • NETHERRELAYSrelays.nether.net

    No nameserver answers for the zone.

    silent

  • Woodys SMTPblacklist.woody.ch

    The zone resolves but publishes no RFC 5782 test entry.

    silent

  • CALIVENTdnsbl.calivent.com.pe

    The zone resolves but publishes no RFC 5782 test entry.

    silent

  • ICMFORBIDDENforbidden.icm.edu.pl

    The zone resolves but publishes no RFC 5782 test entry.

    silent

  • IMP SPAMspamrbl.imp.ch

    The zone resolves but publishes no RFC 5782 test entry.

    silent

  • IMP WORMwormrbl.imp.ch

    The zone resolves but publishes no RFC 5782 test entry.

    silent

  • RATS Spamspam.spamrats.com

    Neither resolver received an answer for the test entry.

    silent

  • RATS Dynadyna.spamrats.com

    Neither resolver received an answer for the test entry.

    silent

  • RATS NoPtrnoptr.spamrats.com

    Neither resolver received an answer for the test entry.

    silent

  • Sender Scorebl.score.senderscore.com

    Answers 127.255.255.255 — it refuses queries from shared resolvers.

    refuses

  • Spamhaus ZEN (free zone)zen.spamhaus.org

    Refuses shared resolvers, and answers inconsistently through them. Queried instead through the keyed Data Query Service.

    refuses

  • Barracudab.barracudacentral.org

    Requires registering the addresses that will query it, and a serverless function has no fixed address to register.

    answering

  • Hostkarmahostkarma.junkemailfilter.com

    Returns 127.0.0.1 to mean whitelisted. Until that table is decoded, a hit here would be reported as the opposite of what it says.

    silent

  • CYMRU BOGONSbogons.cymru.com

    Lists unroutable space only. A real sending address can never appear, so a hit could only ever be our own bug.

    silent

1 zone we do not query answered today. That is a decision to revisit rather than a result to hide: b.barracudacentral.org. Some are excluded on their own terms of use rather than on whether they reply.

Run it yourself

Nothing here needs our word for it. Ask any zone for the entry the standard requires, from two resolvers you do not control:

dig +short @8.8.8.8 2.0.0.127.bl.spamcop.net    # → 127.0.0.2   answering
dig +short @1.1.1.1 2.0.0.127.bl.spamcop.net    # → 127.0.0.2   agrees

dig +short @8.8.8.8 2.0.0.127.ubl.unsubscore.com   # → nothing
dig +short @1.1.1.1 2.0.0.127.ubl.unsubscore.com   # → nothing

A reply of 127.0.0.2 is the list confirming it is alive. Nothing back, from both, is a zone that cannot tell you anything about anyone. How we choose them.

FAQ

Awkward questions

Who is this actually for?

People who ship email and are too busy to re-read every PDF: week-one marketers, lifecycle/CRM, deliverability, multi-country ops, DTC brands, agencies — on Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Braze, HubSpot, SFMC, or something else. Pick your tool and geos so product-specific pages only appear when they match. EU and UK are first-class filters. Not for people who sell tools about email and need a fake score to demo.

Why only ~40 rules? Isn’t that… thin?

On purpose. A wall of 400 undated “best practices” is how you look busy and still get burned. Every page needs a primary source we actually read. Thin and checkable beats fat and folklore. Europe, bulk inbox rules, measurement honesty, and protocol topics like BIMI/DMARC policy are on the shelf when we can cite them — not every Member State and not every vendor myth. Coverage map lists what we still refuse to invent.

Is this legal advice?

No. If it were, you’d have a billable hour and a longer PDF. This is a dated operator reference written by an email geek. Confirm anything high-stakes with counsel who knows your facts. Same for “will this make me compliant?” — no tool does that. Lawyers and judges do. We say what the sources say and what to do first on Monday.

Why no trust score out of 100?

Because we refuse to invent a number you can’t audit. Fake scores sell seed tests and panic. You get findings, dates, and links. If that feels less exciting than a red dial, good — you’re not the red-dial customer.

Why should I trust you more than my ESP’s blog?

ESPs sell seats. Seed-score vendors sell fear. AI invents citations when nobody watches. We sell nothing today — no pixels, no placement scores, no affiliate — so we can say when a tool is the problem. A human verifies, dates, and corrects in public. Tools may help draft; they do not ship unsourced claims. Check the primary links. Fail that test and leave.

Do I need an account?

No. Filters live in this browser and the URL. Share the link. That’s it. Accounts come later only if they earn it — not so we can nurture you about email.

I’m an agency. Where’s multi-client mode?

We tried a client-name CRM on the setup card. It made the product feel like work before it felt useful. Role filters + copy link + one-page brief (optional PDF title) is enough for now. Complexity comes back when the free shelf is habit, not before.

Is the quiet changelog a bug?

No. Quiet means nothing material moved. We don’t invent urgency so the homepage looks “alive.” Sticky risks still show what usually needs a person when the market is still.