Server Mode → Settings → Mail Settings controls how the server handles email for hosted accounts and how the Panel itself sends notifications.
Default MX Policy
Determines where mail for new accounts is directed when the account is created:
- This server — PowerDNS creates an MX record pointing to this server's hostname. Postfix and Dovecot handle mail locally. This is the standard setup for hosting providers that offer email as part of their hosting packages.
- External — no MX record is created. Clients manage their own MX (e.g., Google Workspace, Microsoft 365). Choose this if you do not offer email hosting.
This setting is the default for new accounts only. Individual account MX records can always be changed via DNS Management.
SMTP Relay
If your VPS provider blocks outbound port 25 (common on Linode, DigitalOcean, Vultr, and AWS EC2 by default), you need to route outbound mail through an SMTP relay service.
Configure the relay under SMTP Relay:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Relay host | Hostname and port, e.g. [smtp.sendgrid.net]:587 |
| Username | Relay account username or API key |
| Password | Relay account password |
| TLS | Enable STARTTLS (recommended) |
Postfix is configured to route all outbound mail through the relay. The relay service handles deliverability, IP reputation, and bounce processing.
Supported relay services: Amazon SES, Mailgun, SendGrid, Postmark, Brevo, and any service with SMTP relay support.
# Test relay config from the server after saving
echo "Test" | mail -s "Relay test" you@yourdomain.com
# Check Postfix mail log for relay result
tail -50 /var/log/maillog
Warning: Do not set a relay and also leave port 25 open for direct delivery — this can cause mail to attempt direct delivery when the relay is temporarily unavailable, which will be rejected by providers blocking port 25. If you configure a relay, rely on it exclusively.
Postmaster Address
The address that receives:
- Delivery failure reports (DSNs) that cannot be attributed to a specific account.
- Abuse reports sent to
abuse@yourdomainandpostmaster@yourdomain.
Set this to a real mailbox you monitor. Ignoring postmaster mail leads to deliverability problems going unnoticed.
Panel Notification Email
The From address and SMTP credentials used when the Panel sends email to admins — SSL expiry warnings, backup failure alerts, login notifications, and similar events.
This can be the same as the postmaster address or a dedicated noreply@yourdomain address. It must be a real address that passes SPF/DKIM checks on your domain to avoid being flagged as spam.
Configure SMTP credentials here separately from the relay above — the Panel sends its own notifications directly via these credentials, not through Postfix.