Automatically generate and send RFC 3464 formatted Delivery Status Notification (DSN) reports for bounced emails to designated recipients. This enterprise feature provides standardized bounce reporting for compliance, monitoring, and integration with email management systems.
Enterprise Feature: DSN Reports are available exclusively on Enterprise plans. Contact our sales team to upgrade your account.
Standards Compliance: DSN reports follow RFC 3464 specifications, ensuring compatibility with standard email management and monitoring systems.
Recommended Approach: For most integrations, webhooks are the preferred method for handling bounce notifications as they provide real-time delivery and more detailed event data. DSN reports are specifically designed for integrating with legacy systems where webhooks are not feasible.

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What Are DSN Reports?

Delivery Status Notification reports are standardized email messages that provide detailed information about email delivery failures. When enabled, AhaSend automatically generates DSN reports for bounced emails and sends them to configured recipients. DSN Reports Include:
  • Original message headers and metadata
  • Detailed bounce reason and error codes
  • Timestamp and delivery attempt information
  • Recipient and sender information
  • RFC 3464 compliant formatting

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Configuration

Configure DSN reports through your account settings with optional domain-level overrides:

Enable Account-Level DSNs

Configure global DSN settings:
  1. Navigate to Account Settings in your dashboard
  2. Locate the “Delivery Status Notifications” section
  3. Enable “Send DSNs for bounced emails”
  4. Enter the default recipient email address for DSN reports
  5. Save your configuration

Configure Domain Overrides (Optional)

Set domain-specific DSN recipients:
  1. Go to your Domains page
  2. Click on the domain you want to override the DSN recipient for.
  3. Click the Settings button for the desired domain
  4. Enter DSN recipient address for this domain
  5. Save domain settings
Domain Override Behavior: Domain-specific recipients replace the account-level default for emails sent from that domain.

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How DSN Reports Work

Once configured, AhaSend automatically handles DSN generation and delivery: Automatic Processing:
  • Bounce Detection: AhaSend monitors all email delivery attempts
  • DSN Generation: Creates RFC 3464 compliant reports for bounced messages
  • Recipient Selection: Uses domain-specific recipient or account default
  • Report Delivery: Sends DSN report to configured recipient address
Recipient Priority:
  1. Domain-specific recipient (if configured for the sending domain)
  2. Account-level default recipient (fallback for all domains)

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Use Cases

DSN reports serve various enterprise requirements:

Compliance Monitoring

Regulatory requirementsMeet industry compliance needs for bounce tracking and email delivery monitoring

System Integration

Automated processingIntegrate bounce data with CRM, marketing automation, or monitoring systems

Delivery Analytics

Performance trackingCentralized bounce reporting for delivery performance analysis

Multi-Domain Management

Enterprise organizationSeparate bounce reporting for different business units or brands

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DSN Report Format

DSN reports follow RFC 3464 specifications for standardized processing: Report Structure:
  • Message headers: Standard email headers with DSN identification
  • Human-readable section: Plain text summary of delivery failure
  • Machine-readable section: Structured data for automated processing
  • Original message: Headers and metadata from the bounced email
Example DSN Content:
  • Bounce reason and error codes
  • Original recipient and sender addresses
  • Delivery attempt timestamps
  • Mail server response messages

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Best Practices

Optimize DSN recipient setup:
  • Use dedicated mailboxes for DSN processing
  • Configure domain overrides for multi-brand organizations
  • Ensure recipient addresses can handle high volumes
  • Consider automated processing systems for DSN reports
Recommended Setup:
Maximize DSN report value:
  • Implement automated parsing of RFC 3464 format
  • Integrate with suppression list management
  • Set up monitoring alerts for high bounce rates
  • Archive DSN reports for compliance auditing
Processing Considerations:
  • Parse machine-readable sections for structured data
  • Extract bounce categories and error codes
  • Update recipient lists based on permanent failures
  • Track delivery patterns across domains
Handle DSN report volumes:
  • Monitor DSN recipient mailbox capacity
  • Implement rate limiting if necessary
  • Set up backup recipients for redundancy
  • Plan for high-volume sending periods
Scaling Tips:
  • Use separate processing systems for high volumes
  • Implement queue management for DSN processing
  • Consider batch processing for efficiency

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Troubleshooting

Common configuration issues:
  • Verify DSN feature is enabled in account settings
  • Check recipient email address is valid and accessible
  • Confirm domain override settings if using domain-specific recipients
  • Review bounce patterns - DSNs are only generated for actual bounces
Verification Steps:
  1. Check account settings for DSN configuration
  2. Verify recipient mailbox is not full or blocking emails
  3. Send test emails to invalid addresses to trigger bounces
  4. Monitor recipient mailbox for incoming DSN reports
DSN report content issues:
  • RFC 3464 compliance ensures standard formatting
  • Missing data may indicate configuration problems
  • Parsing errors require RFC 3464 compatible processors
  • Contact support for persistent data issues
Data Validation:
  • Verify DSN reports contain required RFC 3464 sections
  • Check machine-readable portions for structured data
  • Validate bounce reason codes and timestamps
  • Review original message headers in DSN reports
Managing excessive bounce reports:
  • Review sending practices to reduce bounce rates
  • Implement list hygiene to remove invalid addresses
  • Monitor recipient capacity for DSN processing
  • Consider suppression management to prevent repeated bounces
Volume Reduction:
  • Clean recipient lists regularly
  • Use email validation services
  • Implement proper opt-in processes
  • Monitor domain reputation and authentication

Webhooks

Real-time notifications for all email events including bounces

Suppression Management

Automatically handle bounces and maintain sender reputation