# E-mail error message **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 15, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-mail-error-message/340015 "2006-01-15T00:29:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-mail-error-message/340015/1 "2006-01-15T00:29:12Z")
I sent off an email got it bounced back with this error 554 Relay rejected for policy reasons. I’ve never seen that one before. Any idea what that means? ---
**Author:** ![biometricks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@biometricks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biometricks)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-mail-error-message/340015/2 "2006-01-15T01:29:29Z")
Is your mail server setup as an “open relay”? You may have a blacklisted IP, if know your mail server IP check it on the blacklist sites… here’s one: [http://rbls.org/](http://rbls.org/) , there are several more sites. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-mail-error-message/340015/3 "2006-01-15T01:31:58Z")
> [@biometricks](#): > > Is your mail server setup as an “open relay”? > You may have a blacklisted IP, if know your mail server IP check it on the blacklist sites… here’s one: [http://rbls.org/](http://rbls.org/) , there are several more sites. I doubt that’s it since I was sending the email from my workplace (a public library) to another public library. ---
**Author:** ![biometricks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@biometricks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biometricks)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-mail-error-message/340015/4 "2006-01-15T01:42:44Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > I doubt that’s it since I was sending the email from my workplace (a public library) to another public library. Hey, I very stupidly experimented on my production mail server at work (a school district) and accidentally left it set as an open relay and I got us blacklisted from other schools. So it can happen if your net admin is as stupid as I am… ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-mail-error-message/340015/5 "2006-01-15T01:49:37Z")
But I haven’t had any other email bounced back from any other domain. ---
**Author:** ![biometricks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@biometricks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biometricks)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-mail-error-message/340015/6 "2006-01-15T01:56:09Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > But I haven’t had any other email bounced back from any other domain. Not everyone uses the blacklists to block suspected spam. Can you send mail to other addresses at the blocked domain? Another possibility is that their server is simply down. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-mail-error-message/340015/7 "2006-01-15T02:01:04Z")
Server down might be more likely.