2.1.5: recipient address accepted
A success code: the receiving server checked the recipient address and accepts it. It appears in normal SMTP replies and positive delivery reports, never as an error.
- Standard
- Provider
- Success (2xx)
- Class
- Sources checked
- Author
At a glance
- Code
- 2.1.5
- Provider
- Standard SMTP codes
- Temporary or permanent
- SuccessThe server accepted the command or the message.
- Who has to act
- The sender. The fix is on the sending side: your domain, your server or your list.
- What the server says
2.1.5 Destination address valid
What it means
2.1.5 is the positive counterpart of 5.1.1. Servers that support enhanced status codes send it after RCPT TO, typically as 250 2.1.5, to say the recipient is known and they will take mail for it, and RFC 3463 says it should be used in positive delivery reports. Seeing 2.1.5 in a log or a report therefore means this recipient was fine at that step. If the message still failed, the failure came later (after DATA, for content or policy) or concerned another recipient. Some servers accept every address at this stage and bounce unknown ones afterwards, so 2.1.5 does not prove the mailbox exists.
Common causes
- A log or transcript of a normal SMTP session, where each accepted recipient gets 250 2.1.5.
- A delivery report that lists every recipient, including the ones that succeeded.
How to fix it
- 01Nothing to fix for this recipient: the address was accepted.
- 02If the message still bounced, look for the code given after DATA or for another recipient in the same report.
- 03If you are testing whether an address exists, remember that a server may accept any address here and reject it later.
Sources
What this page rests on, checked on 20 Oct 2026. The explanation is ours; the reply text is the server's.
Related codes
- 5.1.1Mailbox does not exist.The recipient's domain accepts mail, but the mailbox named before the @ does not exist there, so the message was refused and will not be delivered.
- 2.1.9Relayed to a system without tracking.A message tracking status: the address was valid and the message was passed on to a system that does not support tracking, so no later status is available.
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