MailBeast calculates a DNS Health Score (0-100) for each email account based on 5 DNS checks. This score tells you at a glance whether your domain is properly configured for email deliverability - and whether you meet the minimum requirements for warmup and campaign sending.
Each DNS record contributes a specific number of points to the total score:
DNS Record | Points | What It Verifies |
|---|---|---|
MX | 40 | Mail servers exist for your domain |
SPF | 20 | Authorized senders are listed |
DKIM | 20 | Email signing key exists |
DMARC | 10 | Authentication policy is defined |
A Record | 10 | Domain resolves to an IP address |
Total | 100 |
|
MX carries the most weight (40 points) because without mail servers, your domain cannot receive email - and receiving replies is critical for cold outreach and warmup.
Score Range | Level | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
90-100 | Excellent | All critical records verified. Optimal setup for deliverability. |
70-89 | Good | Most records are set up. Minor improvements possible (usually DMARC is missing). |
60-69 | Fair | Minimum threshold met. You can send, but fixing missing records will improve results. |
0-59 | Poor | Major DNS issues. Warmup and sending are blocked until resolved. |
A DNS Health Score of 60 or higher is required to enable warmup and campaign sending. Below 60, MailBeast blocks sending to protect your sender reputation - sending with broken DNS would do more harm than good.
Sending from a domain with broken DNS is one of the fastest ways to damage your sender reputation - and reputation is slow and painful to rebuild. With cold outbound specifically, it is a one-way into the spam folder, with no recovery for such sender.
When key records are missing, mailbox providers like Gmail and Outlook can't confirm that your mail genuinely comes from you.
Every message sent from a misconfigured domain teaches the receiving providers to distrust it. So rather than let you quietly burn the domain, MailBeast holds sending - for both warmup and campaigns - until the score reaches a bare minimum threshold of 60.
Your DNS Health score is visible in several places:
Email Accounts table - Each row shows a health score badge. Hover over it for a quick popover with the breakdown.
Account Detail Sheet, Overview tab - The full DNS breakdown card with per-record status badges showing verified or failed for each of the 5 records.
MailBeast runs DNS verification at several points:
Automatically when you connect a new account - The initial check runs during the connection process.
On a regular scheduled basis - Background checks run periodically to catch DNS changes or issues.
On manual trigger - You can click "Run DNS Check" in the account detail view to force an immediate re-check.
Each DNS query has a 15-second timeout. If a query times out due to a temporary network issue, MailBeast preserves the previous status rather than marking the record as failed. This prevents false negatives from transient DNS server problems.
Here is how to address each missing record, ordered by impact:
MX records are provided by your email hosting provider (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, etc.). If MX is missing, it usually means your domain is not set up for email at all.
Fix: Add the MX records provided by your email hosting provider. This is typically done during initial domain setup with your email provider.
SPF tells email providers which servers can send email on behalf of your domain.
Fix: Follow the SPF, DKIM, and DMARC Setup Guide. The SPF section takes about 5 minutes.
DKIM adds a digital signature to your emails for authenticity verification.
Fix: Follow the SPF, DKIM, and DMARC Setup Guide. The DKIM process varies by email provider but takes 5-10 minutes.
DMARC defines what happens when SPF/DKIM fail. This is often the easiest record to add because a basic p=none policy is all you need.
Fix: Follow the SPF, DKIM, and DMARC Setup Guide. Adding a basic DMARC record takes under 2 minutes.
The A record maps your domain to an IP address. This is almost always already set up if you have a website on your domain.
Fix: If missing, add an A record pointing to your web server's IP address. If you do not have a website, your hosting provider can advise on what IP to use.
How to Set Up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC - All three authentication records, with provider-specific instructions
Custom Tracking Domain Setup - Improve deliverability further with a custom tracking domain
