Registry status

EPP status codes are the registry's own record of what may and may not happen to a domain. This check reads them from the registration record and sorts them into three groups: the ones meaning the domain is already off the internet or about to be, the ones worth a second look, and everything else.

The prefix says who set it. A client prefix is your registrar; a server prefix is the registry itself. That decides what you do about it — a clientHold is a conversation with your registrar, a serverHold is one they have to have with the registry on your behalf.

The critical group takes a domain down independently of DNS. clientHold and serverHold remove the delegation from the parent zone entirely: the nameservers are fine, the records are fine, and the domain resolves for nobody. redemptionPeriod means it has already expired and is recoverable only for a limited window at a restore fee. pendingDelete means that window has closed.

The notable group is where the interesting one lives. pendingTransfer on a domain you did not just move is what a hijack looks like while it is still happening, and transfers complete on a timer whether or not anyone objects. inactive means the domain is registered with no nameservers at the registry. Renewal-prohibited codes mean a renewal will be refused when it is attempted.

For a pendingTransfer you did not initiate, contact your registrar immediately and ask them to reject it. There is a window during which that is a support ticket; after it closes, recovery becomes a formal dispute measured in months. Then change the registrar account password and turn on two-factor authentication, because the transfer is a symptom rather than the problem.

For a hold, ask why. An unpaid invoice is the common answer. The other is a compliance hold, most often because a registrant contact verification email went unanswered and policy required suspension. Both are resolved with the registrar, and neither is fixable in DNS.

For inactive, set nameservers at the registrar — that is the state a domain sits in between registration and configuration.

For the codes in neither group, the useful reading is what is missing rather than what is there. A domain with no transfer lock at all has its own check in this report.