How to Set Up DMARC in Porkbun: Step-by-Step DNS Configuration

Porkbun has quickly become a favorite among developers and small business owners thanks to its competitive pricing and clean, no-nonsense interface. If your domain is registered with Porkbun, adding a DMARC record is straightforward — the DNS management panel is well-designed and DNS changes propagate fast. This guide walks you through the entire process, from logging in to verifying the record is live.

If you have not yet decided what your DMARC record should contain, use our DMARC record generator to build one first, then come back here to add it to Porkbun.

Before You Start

You need two things before making DNS changes in Porkbun:

Your DMARC record string. This is the TXT value you will paste into the DNS panel. If you are starting out and want to monitor email activity without affecting delivery, a basic record looks like:

v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc-reports@yourdomain.com;

Replace the email address with one you control. For guidance on choosing the right policy level, see our DMARC policy levels guide.

Confirmation that Porkbun is managing your DNS. Porkbun manages DNS for your domain by default when you register with them. However, if you have pointed your nameservers to another provider like Cloudflare or Route 53, you need to add your DNS records at that provider instead. You can check your nameserver configuration in Porkbun under Domain Management by selecting your domain and looking at the Authoritative Nameservers section.

If your nameservers point to a third-party DNS provider, any records you add in Porkbun's DNS panel will have no effect. Always add DNS records wherever your nameservers are pointed.

Step-by-Step: Adding DMARC in Porkbun

Log in to your Porkbun account

Go to porkbun.com and sign in. You will land on your account dashboard showing your registered domains and recent activity.

Open Domain Management

Click Domain Management in the navigation menu. This shows a list of all domains in your account. Find the domain you want to add DMARC to.

Navigate to DNS Records

Click on the domain name or select the domain to expand its management options. Click DNS Records to open the DNS management panel. You will see any existing records listed here, along with an area to add new ones.

Select TXT as the record type

In the new record form, set the Type dropdown to TXT. DMARC records are always stored as TXT records in DNS.

Enter _dmarc in the Host field

In the Host field, type _dmarc. Porkbun automatically appends your domain name to whatever you enter in the Host field, so typing _dmarc creates the record at _dmarc.yourdomain.com — which is the exact location DMARC requires. Do not enter the full _dmarc.yourdomain.com in the Host field, or you will end up with a record at _dmarc.yourdomain.com.yourdomain.com, which will not work.

Paste your DMARC record in the Answer field

In the Answer field, paste your full DMARC record string. For example: v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc-reports@yourdomain.com;. Do not wrap the value in quotation marks — Porkbun handles that automatically.

Leave the TTL at default

Porkbun sets the TTL to 600 seconds (10 minutes) by default, which is a good choice. A short TTL means that if you need to make corrections later, the updated record will propagate quickly. You can leave this at the default value.

Save the record

Click the button to add the record. Porkbun will save it and display it in your DNS records list. Confirm you see a TXT record with _dmarc as the Host and your DMARC string as the Answer.

Create your DMARC record

Use our free DMARC generator to build a valid record for your domain.

Generate DMARC Record

Verifying Your DMARC Record

Porkbun's DNS infrastructure is fast. Changes typically propagate within a few minutes rather than the hours some other registrars require. After saving your record, wait about five minutes, then verify it is live using dmarcrecordchecker.com. Enter your domain and the tool will query _dmarc.yourdomain.com and display the result.

When verifying, check that:

The record starts with v=DMARC1
Your policy tag (p=none, p=quarantine, or p=reject) is present
Your rua reporting email address is correct
There is only one DMARC TXT record at _dmarc, not duplicates

If the record does not appear after five minutes, wait a bit longer and try again. While Porkbun's servers update quickly, your local DNS resolver may be caching the previous (empty) response for a short time.

Common Porkbun-Specific Issues

The Host Field Format

Like most registrars, Porkbun expects only the subdomain portion in the Host field. For DMARC:

Correct: _dmarc
Wrong: _dmarc.yourdomain.com
Wrong: _dmarc.yourdomain.com.

If you accidentally entered the full domain name, your DMARC record will be created at the wrong DNS location. Delete the incorrect record and create a new one with just _dmarc in the Host field.

Record Not Resolving

If your DMARC record is not showing up after saving:

Verify your nameservers. If you have changed your nameservers away from Porkbun's defaults to a third-party DNS provider, records added in Porkbun's panel will not resolve. Add your DMARC record at whichever service is actually authoritative for your domain's DNS.

Check for duplicate records. Having two TXT records at _dmarc causes unpredictable DMARC behavior. Remove any old or duplicate entries so only one DMARC record exists.

Flush your local DNS cache. Your computer may be caching the old DNS response. On Windows, run ipconfig /flushdns in Command Prompt. On Mac, run sudo dscacheutil -flushcache in Terminal.

Email Services and Porkbun

Porkbun offers email forwarding but does not provide full email hosting. Most Porkbun users send email through a third-party service like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Fastmail, or a transactional provider like SendGrid. This means your SPF and DKIM records need to reflect whichever email service you actually use — not Porkbun itself.

Make sure SPF and DKIM are properly configured for your email provider before moving to an enforcing DMARC policy. You can build your SPF record at spfcreator.com and generate DKIM keys at dkimcreator.com. For a full breakdown of how these three protocols work together, read SPF vs DKIM vs DMARC.

Configure SPF and DKIM before enforcing DMARC

A DMARC policy of p=quarantine or p=reject will cause emails to be filtered or blocked if they fail both SPF and DKIM checks. Always confirm your email provider's SPF includes and DKIM signatures are in place and passing before you move beyond p=none.

Check your domain's email authentication

Verify your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are all correctly configured.

Run a Free Check

Updating Your DMARC Policy Later

When you are ready to move from monitoring (p=none) to enforcement, go back to Domain Management in Porkbun, select your domain, open DNS Records, find your DMARC TXT record, and edit it.

We recommend a gradual rollout. Start with p=quarantine; pct=25; to quarantine only a quarter of messages that fail authentication. Monitor your DMARC aggregate reports for a week or two, then increase the percentage. Once you are confident at pct=100, move to p=reject for full spoofing protection.

Because Porkbun uses a default TTL of 600 seconds, any changes you make to your DMARC record will propagate within about ten minutes. This makes Porkbun a convenient platform for iterating on your DMARC configuration quickly.

Protect domains you do not use for email

If you own multiple domains in Porkbun that do not send email, add a reject-all DMARC record to each one: v=DMARC1; p=reject; sp=reject;. This prevents anyone from spoofing those unused domains.

Monitor Your DMARC Record

You have created your DMARC record — now make sure it keeps working. The Email Deliverability Suite watches your SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and MX records daily and alerts you when something breaks.

Never miss a DMARC issue

Monitor your SPF, DKIM, DMARC and MX records daily. Get alerts when something breaks.

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