Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) domain status codes, also called domain name status codes, indicate the status of a domain name registration. Every domain has at least one status code, but they can also have more than one.

Is your domain name registration about to be dropped? Is it safely locked to prevent unauthorized transfers, updates or deletions? Does it have any restrictions or pending actions that you need to address? Finding and understanding your domain’s EPP status codes will answer all of these questions and more.

It is important for registrants (that means you!) to understand EPP status codes because they can explain why your domain may have stopped working, if it is protected from domain name hijacking, and when and if your domain name registration will expire and become available to the public for registration.

You can find out your domain’s status codes by running a Whois lookup, which you can do by visiting http://www.internic.net/whois.html or your registrar’s website. Your domain’s EPP status codes will be included in the search results.

There are two different types of EPP status codes: client and server codes. Client status codes are set by registrars. Some registrars automatically enact certain status codes when you register a domain name, while others do so when you request it. Server status codes are set by registries, and they take precedence over client codes. Both kinds of status codes appear when you run a Whois lookup for your domain.

The following are two tables containing the 17 standardized EPP (see std69) domain status codes plus the Registry Grace Period (RGP) status codes (see RFC3915). The first table lists the server and RGP status codes; the second table lists the client status codes. These tables will explain what each status means, why you should care what it means, and what kind of action you might want to take to respond to a status.