Domain status codes
Domain status codes are the EPP labels a registry returns for a name, such as clientTransferProhibited or pendingDelete, that say what may happen to it next.
Domain status codes are the labels a registry returns for a name, such as clientTransferProhibited or pendingDelete. They come from EPP, the protocol registrars use to talk to registries, and they say what may happen to the name next.
The prefix is the important part and it is the part people miss:
- client... was set by the registrar, usually at the owner's request or as a default protection. The owner can have it removed.
- server... was set by the registry. The registrar cannot remove it, and it usually means a dispute, a legal hold or a policy action.
The ones worth recognizing
| Code | What it means |
|---|---|
ok | No restrictions. Also the state that allows an unauthorized transfer, which is why locks exist. |
clientTransferProhibited | A transfer lock the owner asked for. Normal and good. |
clientHold | The registrar asked the registry to stop resolving the name. The site goes dark while the registration is still valid. |
serverHold | Same effect, set by the registry. Usually a dispute or an abuse action. |
autoRenewPeriod | The registration renewed automatically. There is a window to reverse it. |
redemptionPeriod | It expired and was deleted. It can still be restored, for a fee, for about 30 days. |
pendingDelete | The redemption window closed. The name drops to general availability within days. |
What Domduck records
Status codes arrive with the RDAP reading and are stored with it. They sit beside the registration date on the domain page.
They are read once with the rest of the record rather than polled, so a status that changes between readings is visible at the next read rather than the same hour. A watch list for expiry is a different job, and the certificate side of it is covered by the daily certificate reading.
Why it matters
clientHold explains an outage that looks like DNS and is not. The registration is fine, the records are fine, and the registry has stopped publishing the name. Nothing in a normal monitoring stack reports that, because every layer it checks is healthy.
redemptionPeriod and pendingDelete are the two states that decide whether a name can be recovered or is about to be someone else's. The difference is a few days and a restore fee.
Related
Primary source: ICANN's status code reference