RFC Compliance

What This Check Does

The RFC Compliance check evaluates your domain's DNS zone for compliance with relevant DNS RFCs (Request for Comments) standards. It uses named-checkzone analysis to identify configuration issues that deviate from established standards, including malformed records, invalid hostnames, incorrect record formatting, and other standards violations.

DNS Spy performs automated zone analysis and reports any RFC compliance warnings found in your DNS configuration.

Why It Matters

DNS RFCs define the standards that all DNS software and resolvers follow. When your zone configuration violates these standards, different DNS resolvers may interpret your records differently — or reject them entirely. RFC violations can cause subtle, intermittent issues that are difficult to diagnose, such as certain resolvers failing to look up your records while others work fine.

Maintaining RFC compliance ensures maximum compatibility across all DNS implementations and reduces the risk of unexpected resolution failures. It is also a mark of professional DNS management and can be important for compliance audits.

Good vs. Bad Configuration

Bad Configuration

Your zone contains an MX record pointing to an IP address instead of a hostname (RFC 2181 violation), or a CNAME record that coexists with other record types at the same name (RFC 1034 violation). These may work with some resolvers but fail with others.

Good Configuration

Your zone passes named-checkzone with no warnings. All records follow RFC standards: MX records point to hostnames, CNAME records do not coexist with other types, TTL values are within valid ranges, and hostname labels conform to RFC 952/1123.

How DNS Spy Monitors This

DNS Spy analyzes your zone configuration during each monitoring cycle, checking for RFC compliance issues. Any warnings or violations are flagged with details about which RFC is violated and how to fix the issue. Historical tracking helps you maintain ongoing compliance as your zone evolves.