Unknown Addresses

Decide what happens to mail sent to any address on your base domain that isn't one of your aliases.

Why Use This Feature?

Rejecting unknown addresses tells senders the address doesn't exist so guessed addresses get a clear bounce.
Dropping unknown addresses gives spammers no signal about which addresses are real.
Forwarding unknown addresses lets you make up an address on the spot and still receive the mail.

Options

Set unknown_alias_action in the config, or choose it under Settings in the mm menu.

Value	What happens
`reject`	The sender gets a bounce saying the address was not found.
`drop`	The message is accepted and silently discarded.
`forward`	The message is forwarded to `default_destination`.

config.json

json

{
  "settings": {
    "unknown_alias_action": "forward",
    "default_destination": "personal"
  }
}

The unknown alias action applies because the catch-all sends every address without its own Email Routing rule to the Worker.

Refusals Never Fall Through

A known alias that is disabled, expired, or refuses a sender never forwards to the default destination. That way, turning off an alias really stops its mail, even with forward selected.

Setting	What a refusal does
`reject`	Bounces with the reason.
`drop`	Discards silently.
`forward`	Bounces with the reason.

Other Domains

Mail for a domain other than your base domain is always rejected. This can happen if you route another domain's catch-all at the same Worker.

tip

drop keeps spammers guessing, but a person who mistypes an address also gets no bounce. It is recommended to pick reject unless spam to random addresses is a real problem for you.