How to configure DNS Blackhole Lists (DNSBL) in Plesk?

Daniel Yordanov

Updated July 20, 2026 11:44

Plesk for Windows kb: how-to Plesk for Linux

Applicable to:

Plesk for Linux
Plesk for Windows

Question

How to configure DNS Blackhole Lists (DNSBL) in Plesk?
It it possible to use DNS blacklists for incoming mail in Plesk?

Answer

You may configure and use free and paid DNS blackhole lists with your Plesk server.

A good third party list with details for many of the available DNSBL options can be accessed here.

Note: A DNSBL is a Domain Name System Block List, which is essentially a list of IP address ranges or other information compiled and presented as a DNS zone that can be used for incoming spam blocking for mailboxes located on your Plesk server.

Note: On Linux, if you use the Qmail mail server and switch on DNSBL, senders with IP addresses from the blackhole list will not be able to send emails even if they pass SMTP authentication. To avoid this, switch on the message submission as described in Configuring Server-Wide Mail Settings.

The choice of DNS Blackhole Lists that you use on your server depends entirely on your own preferences, however you should make sure that your server's IP addresses are not included in the DNS Blackhole List that you are planning on using before adding it.

A general public list of available DNS Blackhole Lists can be see on the following third party website:

DNSBL Information - Complete DNSBL List

Some DNS Blackhole Lists require additional registrations and steps to be performed on their own websites in order to be used reliably.

Once you've chosen a DNS Blackhole List that fits your requirements best, you may add it by following these steps:

Configuring DNS Blackhole Lists (DNSBL) via Plesk interface

Log into Plesk
Go to Tools & Settings > Mail Server Settings (in the Mail group)
Scroll down to the Spam protection based on DNS blackhole lists section and check the Turn on spam protection based on DNS blackhole lists box
In the DNS zones for DNSBL service field, specify the blacklists that your mail server should query when checking incoming emails, for example:

CONFIG_TEXT: dnsbl1.example.net;dnsbl2.example.net
Press Apply

Configuring DNS Blackhole Lists (DNSBL) via a command-line interface (CLI)

Connect to the Plesk server via SSH.
Use the plesk bin mailserver utility with the following options:
- to modify the list of DNS zones:
  
  # plesk bin mailserver --set-maps-zone dnsbl1.example.net,dnsbl2.example.net
- to enable spam protection based on DNS blackhole lists:
  
  # plesk bin mailserver --set-maps-status true
- to disable spam protection based on DNS blackhole lists:
  
  # plesk bin mailserver --set-maps-status false