Guide

SPF flattening explained

SPF lists which servers may send mail for your domain. Each include: and redirect counts toward a hard limit of ten DNS lookups. Flattening keeps your published SPF small while the full list is maintained for you.

When flattening helps

Marketing tools, ticketing systems, and Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace often push you over the lookup limit. Receivers may then fail SPF even for legitimate mail. Flattening replaces many includes with a short hosted record that is refreshed automatically.

What NovaMX publishes

MailControl SPF flattening stores your authorised senders, resolves includes on a schedule, and publishes a compact SPF target in DNS. The portal shows lookup counts and warns before you hit the limit.

Standalone or bundled

SPF flattening costs EUR 4.95/month per domain (excl. VAT; see Preferences for incl. or excl. display). MailControl Essential and larger bundles include flattening with DMARC reporting. Use the free SPF lookup tool on our website to inspect an existing record before you change DNS.

Steps in My NovaMX

  1. Verify the domain if you have not already.
  2. Order SPF Flattening standalone or MailControl Essential if you also need DMARC reporting and MTA-STS.
  3. Add every authorised sender in MailControl and wait for the portal to show a safe lookup count.
  4. Publish the TXT record the portal provides, or let NovaMX DNS publish it automatically when we host your zone.

Daily refresh and what not to edit

NovaMX resolves your includes on a schedule and updates the hosted flatten target daily. Do not hand-edit the flattened include target or swap it for a long v=spf1 record. Manage senders in MailControl instead.

Common mistakes

Editing the flattened TXT target by hand breaks the next refresh. Leaving old include: lines alongside flattening duplicates authorisations and can push you back over the lookup limit. Adding +all or overly broad ip4 ranges to hide errors weakens protection.

When you are stuck

Run the SPF lookup check on our website to see lookup counts and permerrors. Browse Help for SPF flattening articles. Contact us through Messages in My NovaMX if flattening is ordered but mail still fails SPF.

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