Sending email from your VPS

What this is#

What you can and can't do with email on a VPSDime VPS, and how our monitoring enforces it. The short version: run a mail server if you like, send the mail your apps need, but any kind of bulk sending is off-limits.

What's allowed#

Outbound port 25 is open, so you can run a mail server and send low-volume transactional and monitoring email: password resets, order confirmations, alerts from your systems, personal correspondence. That covers the mail a normal site or app generates.

To help your mail land in inboxes, set reverse DNS on your IP from the Network tab so it matches your mail server's hostname. If your mail is landing in spam, the full self-service diagnosis (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, testing tools) is in Emails from my VPS go to spam.

What's not allowed#

Mass mailing of any kind is strictly forbidden on our network: marketing blasts, newsletters, cold outreach, purchased lists, anything sent in bulk. This is what keeps our IP ranges off blocklists, which benefits every customer sending legitimate mail.

If you have real sending volume, use a dedicated email service such as Amazon SES or Mailgun. They're built for it, inexpensive, and your deliverability will be better than from any single VPS.

How it's enforced#

• Automated monitoring. Our systems watch for mass-mail emission from VPSes. A VPS that starts bulk-sending has its SMTP ports blocked automatically. If that happens, deal with the cause (often a compromised site or app), then open a ticket to get the block reviewed.
• Blacklist charge. We check our IP space against blocklists frequently. If your IP gets blacklisted, you'll be charged $250 per blacklist, and you're required to handle the delisting. You're responsible for the software and usage on your VPS, so "it wasn't me, my site was hacked" doesn't waive this. Keep your VPS and its apps updated and locked down.

Still need help?#

You can open a support ticket. So we can help on the first reply, it's worth mentioning:

• the VPS hostname or IP,
• what kind of mail you're sending and roughly how much,
• if SMTP was blocked, what you've done to address the cause.

Related questions#

• "Can I run a mail server or send email from my VPS?"
• "Is port 25 open?"
• "Can I send newsletters or marketing email?"
• "Why was SMTP blocked on my VPS?"
• "What happens if my IP gets blacklisted?"
• "What should I use for bulk email instead?"