Defaults.Exposed › Methodology › v7 registry › MX records
MX records
Methodology v7 · canonical ID mx-record · Email Security · scored · census as of July 28, 2026
Whether your domain is correctly set up to receive email at all.
Definition
| Canonical ID | mx-record |
|---|---|
| Category | Email Security |
| Grade impact | Scored — counts toward the grade |
| Pass | The domain publishes at least one resolvable MX record. |
| Fail | No MX records are published (mail to the domain cannot be routed normally). |
| Example (passing) | example.com. 3600 IN MX 10 mail.example.com. |
No-data rule: when this check couldn't be determined for a domain (timeout, SERVFAIL, redacted
source) it returns N/A and is excluded from that domain's scoring denominator — "couldn't determine"
is never counted as a failure. "Determined absent" is a real fail.
Prevalence across the census
99.9% of graded domains publish at least one MX record (163,083,218 of 163,230,702, as of July 28, 2026).
Census denominator: 275,666,275 graded domains. Aggregates only — never an individual domain's result.
Fix it
Plain-English impact, cost of ignoring it, and step-by-step remediation: defaults.exposed/en/fix/mx
Cite this check
Defaults.Exposed, "MX records (mx-record)", Grading Methodology v7 (census as of July 28, 2026). https://defaults.exposed/methodology/v7/mx-record
Permalink: https://defaults.exposed/methodology/v7/mx-record ·
All 34 checks: v7 registry ·
Machine-readable: checks.json ·
Licence: open data