Catch-All E-mail: mail to non-existent addresses

What happens to mail sent to an address on your domain that doesn't exist, for example a typo such as inof@yourdomain.nl? You decide this under Catch-All E-mail. You'll find it in the menu under Advanced Features.

The options

• Disable catch-all (1), with the green label recommended: mail to a non-existent address is rejected. The sender gets an error message and knows the address is wrong. This is the default and we recommend it.
• Delete all emails sent to a non-existent mailbox (2): the mail is accepted and silently discarded. The sender thinks the mail arrived. Don't do this: genuine mail with a typo disappears without anyone noticing.
• Custom email address (3): all mail to non-existent addresses goes to one address you choose. This way you won't miss mail with a typo, but you'll also receive all the spam sent to made-up addresses.

Choose an option and click SAVE.

Why do we advise against catch-all?

Spammers send mail en masse to made-up addresses, such as a.jansen@, sales2@ or random letters. With a catch-all, all that spam lands in your inbox. That can be hundreds of messages a day. It also puts a load on the server, and if you forward the catch-all to another address outside the server, you forward that spam too. This can damage the reputation of our mail server. DirectAdmin itself warns about this too.

Better: separate addresses or forwarders

Want to catch a few extra addresses, such as sales@, quote@ or common typos? Just set up forwarders for these to your own mailbox (see Forwarders: forwarding mail to another address). That way you receive what you want to receive, and the rest is rejected.

Tip: Do you use a separate address for each webshop or website, such as amazon@yourdomain.nl, so you can see who's selling on your address? Then set up these addresses as a forwarder as soon as you start using them, instead of turning on a catch-all.