Manage Hosted Email IP Reputation

OpenSRS may prevent senders from reaching the Hosted Email platform when their IP address has a poor reputation. This article explains how reputation is managed, how to confirm whether your IP is listed, and how to request delisting once you have addressed the underlying issue.

How OpenSRS manages sender reputation

Every message that arrives at the Hosted Email servers is scanned. The system inspects the message body, all headers, the sender, the destination, and the originating IP address. Even after a message is accepted, it can be flagged as unwanted by the platform's own filters or by the recipient. To avoid automatic flagging, keep message content within standard email norms; many third-party guides explain how to lower spam scores on outbound mail.

OpenSRS partners with Validity to offer a Feedback Loop (FBL) for senders that deliver large volumes of mail to users on the platform. The FBL forwards messages reported as spam back to the originating IP or domain so the sender can take corrective action and avoid being added to internal blocklists.

How to tell if an IP is listed

OpenSRS does not offer a dedicated lookup tool to check whether an IP is on its internal blocklist. Senders learn of a listing from the bounce or reject message returned by the receiving mail server, which identifies the listed IP and the source of the listing.

Listings can come from two places:

• The OpenSRS internal blocklist, which only the OpenSRS support team can remove an entry from.
• The Abusix Mail Intelligence partner blocklist. When Abusix is the source, follow the instructions on the Abusix IP address lookup tool. Once Abusix delists the IP, OpenSRS automatically stops blocking it.

Example rejection message

A message blocked because the sending IP is listed by Abusix returns an error similar to:

Client host [192.0.2.69] blocked using urbl.hostedemail.com;
Listed in Abusix Mail Intelligence, see https://abusix.ai/search?q=192.0.2.69

An internal-blocklist rejection cites urbl.hostedemail.com without an Abusix reference.

Requesting delisting from the OpenSRS internal blocklist

When OpenSRS lists a sender on its internal blocklist, mail from that IP is refused at SMTP and the sender receives a bounce message. The sender then has two options: route mail through a different source, or work with the upstream mail operator to improve the IP's reputation before requesting a review.

It is the email provider's responsibility to keep the IP's reputation in good standing with the broader internet community. Once reputation has improved, email providers can contact OpenSRS Support to request a review. OpenSRS confirms the IP's current standing and submits the delisting if the reputation is positive.

Checking whether an IP is blocked by third parties

To check whether your IP is listed on any of the well-known public blocklists (separate from the OpenSRS internal list), use the MxToolbox blocklist checker. Enter the IP address; a green OK indicator means the IP is not currently listed by that real-time blocklist, while a red X means the IP is listed and a link is provided to that blocklist's removal process.

Next steps

• Sign up for the Feedback Loop — register at fbl.hostedemail.com so abuse reports route to a monitored mailbox before they affect reputation.
• Tighten authentication — confirm SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are configured. See Gmail, Microsoft, and Yahoo DMARC Requirements on the Hosted Email Platform.
• Audit outbound content — review templates and lists for unsubscribe links, list hygiene, and content patterns commonly flagged as spam.
• Contact OpenSRS Support for an internal-blocklist review — only after upstream listings are cleared and authentication is in place.

Questions? Contact OpenSRS Support.