Domain names and status

Here, “clientHold” means that the registry’s client, the registrar, has asked that this domain no longer be published in the DNS¹, for example due to a commercial dispute with its client, the domain name holder. Note that this particular RDAP client also provides a hypertext link to documentation (https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en#clientHold).

Where can I find a list of all the possible status codes?

Be careful! It all depends on the registry, and on how the information is presented to the user.

Let’s take the most common case, which uses the status codes standardised in RFC 5731, section 2.3. This list of status codes was standardised under the EPP, which is currently by far the most used protocol by registrars and registries. In the remainder of this article, a Whois or RDAP client is used to consult the status codes.

You will see right away that most status codes start with “client” or “server”. Remember that these terms relate to the relationship between the registrar (the client) and the registry (the server). The “clientHold” status referred to above meant that it was the client (that is the registrar, not the domain name holder) that had requested that the name be removed from publication. A “serverHold” status (yes, there is such a thing) would mean that the registry has removed the domain from publication.

Let’s now look at all the possible status codes in order, as per the RFC (although the RFC list is not necessarily exhaustive).

Status codes

DeleteProhibited

(May be prefixed by “client” or “server”.)

This status code prevents your domain from being deleted (or at least until its status is changed). You will see this, for example, when the domain is locked by the registry, at the holder’s request, in order to avoid hijacking². Here is a domain locked by the .FR Lock³ service, returned by Whois:

domain:                        google.fr
status:                        ACTIVE
eppstatus:                     serverUpdateProhibited
eppstatus:                     serverTransferProhibited
eppstatus:                     serverDeleteProhibited
eppstatus:                     serverRecoverProhibited
hold:                          NO
registrar:                     MARKMONITOR Inc.
Expiry Date:                   2025-12-30T17:16:48Z
created:                       2000-07-26T22:00:00Z
last-update:                   2024-12-03T11:13:05.110779Z

Hold

(May be prefixed by “client” or “server”.)

This status code indicates a name not published in the DNS. When requested by the client, this status often derives from a dispute with the holder, for example over unpaid invoices⁴. When requested by the server, it may be the result of a dispute resolution procedure.

domain:                        vetoatlas.fr
status:                        ACTIVE
eppstatus:                     clientHold
hold:                          YES
holder-c:                      ANO00-FRNIC
admin-c:                       ANO00-FRNIC
tech-c:                        LRIO166-FRNIC
registrar:                     NORDNET
Expiry Date:                   2025-12-09T09:24:39Z
created:                       2019-12-09T09:24:39Z
last-update:                   2025-09-06T04:00:28.536397Z

RenewProhibited, TransferProhibited, UpdateProhibited

(May be prefixed by “client” or “server”.)

These status codes correspond to a restriction on three operations: renewal, transfer (to another registrar) and update (e.g. changing the list of name servers or amending the contacts or… status⁵). The latter two operations are often used in hijacking attempts. Accordingly, many registrars allow transfers to be restricted. The use of this option entails the application of the TransferProhibited status, as in this example returned by Whois:<:p>

domain:   internautique.fr
status:                        ACTIVE
eppstatus:                     clientTransferProhibited

Inactive

This status (which is not prefixed by “client” or “server” since it is not the result of an explicit request) indicates that the domain is not published in the DNS for a purely technical reason: no authoritative DNS server is indicated.

This case is found typically when an organisation reserves a name to avoid it being registered by another party, but does not use it. Here’s an example:

As a result of this absence of name servers, the authoritative servers for the parent domain, in this case .fr, will return the error code NXDOMAIN = Non-Existent Domain, which is true as far as the DNS is concerned but not for the registry’s database:

% dig @d.nic.fr 123casino.fr
…
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NXDOMAIN, id: 19002
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 8, ADDITIONAL: 1
…

OK

This status simply indicates that all is well. It excludes all other statuses.

pendingCreate, pendingDelete, pendingRenew, pendingTransfer, pendingUpdate

These status codes indicate that an operation is being processed.

There’s status and status

The status codes outlined above are those standardised in RFC 5731, sometimes also referred to as “EPP status codes”. But this list is not exhaustive. Other technical standards may add additional statuses⁶. Furthermore, registries may add specific statuses, which they document in their technical guides for registrars. See for example Afnic’s “Procedure Guide”, with statuses such as serverTradeProhibited⁷.

Various registries can also post other statuses, independently of those contained in the EPP protocol. For example, the Whois server for the .fr TLD posts “eppstatus” codes as I’ve described but with an extra “status” giving information about the actions carried out by the registry, such as “Frozen”, meaning the domain cannot be modified, and “Blocked” meaning it is no longer published in the DNS (the equivalent of serverHold):

domain:                        comtedeparis.fr
status:                        BLOCKED
eppstatus:                     serverRenewProhibited
eppstatus:                     serverUpdateProhibited
eppstatus:                     serverTransferProhibited
eppstatus:                     serverDeleteProhibited
eppstatus:                     serverRecoverProhibited
eppstatus:                     serverHold
hold:                          YES

The web interface on Afnic’s website does not show the “eppstatus”:

Conclusion

Status codes provide important information on the situation of a domain name.

So be sure to pay close attention to them when searching for information on a domain name, for example following an outage or an abusive incident.