---
name: "blacklistd.conf"
section: "5"
platform: "freebsd"
package: "base"
version: "16.0-CURRENT-20261027-61c70dc16a79"
release: "FreeBSD 16.0-CURRENT (2026-10-27)"
platforms: ["freebsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/blacklistd.conf"
---

# blacklistd.conf(5)

configuration file format for blacklistd

## NAME

**blacklistd.conf** – configuration file format for blacklistd

## DESCRIPTION

The **blacklistd.conf** file contains configuration entries for [blacklistd(8)](/blacklistd/8.md) in a fashion similar to [inetd.conf(5)](/inetd.conf/5.md). Only one entry per line is permitted. Every entry must have all fields populated. Each field can be separated by a tab or a space. Comments are denoted by a “#” at the beginning of a line.

There are two kinds of configuration lines, *\[local\]* and *\[remote\]*. By default, configuration lines are *\[local\]*, i.e. the address specified refers to the addresses on the local machine. To switch to between *\[local\]* and *\[remote\]* configuration lines you can specify the stanzas: “\[local\]” and “\[remote\]”.

On *\[local\]* and *\[remote\]* lines “\*” means use the default, or wildcard match. In addition, for *\[remote\]* lines “=” means use the values from the matched *\[local\]* configuration line.

The first four fields, *location*, *type*, *proto*, and *owner* are used to match the *\[local\]* or *\[remote\]* addresses, whereas the last 3 fields *name*, *nfail*, and *disable* are used to modify the filtering action.

The first field denotes the *location* as an address, mask, and port. The syntax for the *location* is:

```
	[<address>|<interface>[/<mask>]:]<port>
```

The address can be an IPv4 address in numeric format, an IPv6 address in numeric format and enclosed by square brackets, or an interface name. Mask modifiers are not allowed on interfaces because interfaces can have multiple addresses in different protocols where the mask has a different size.

The mask is always numeric, but the port can be either numeric or symbolic.

The second field is the socket *type*: stream, dgram, or numeric. The third field is the *protocol*: tcp, udp, tcp6, udp6, or numeric. The fourth field is the effective user (*owner*) of the daemon process reporting the event, either as a username or a userid.

The rest of the fields control the behavior of the filter.

The *name* field, is the name of the packet filter rule to be used. If the *name* starts with a hyphen (“-”), then the default rulename is prepended to the given name. If the name contains a “/”, the remaining portion of the name is interpreted as the mask to be applied to the address specified in the rule, causing a single rule violation to block the entire subnet for the configured prefix.

The *nfail* field contains the number of failed attempts before access is blocked, defaulting to “\*” meaning never, and the last field *duration* specifies the amount of time since the last access that the blocking rule should be active, defaulting to “\*” meaning forever. The default unit for *duration* is seconds, but one can specify suffixes for different units, such as “m” for minutes “h” for hours and “d” for days.

Matching is done first by checking the *\[local\]* rules individually, in the order of the most specific to the least specific. If a match is found, then the matching *\[remote\]* rules are applied. The *name*, *nfail*, and *duration* fields can be altered by the *\[remote\]* rule that matched.

The *\[remote\]* rules can be used for allowing specific addresses, changing the mask size (via *name*), the rule that the packet filter uses (also via *name*), the number of failed attempts (via *nfail*), or the duration to block (via *duration*).

## FILES

- */etc/blacklistd.conf*

  Configuration file.

## EXAMPLES

```
# Block ssh, after 3 attempts for 6 hours on the bnx0 interface
[local]
# location	type	proto	owner	name	nfail	duration
bnx0:ssh	*	*	*	*	3	6h
[remote]
# Never block 1.2.3.4
1.2.3.4:ssh	*	*	*	*	*	*
# Never block the example IPv6 subnet either
[2001:db8::]/32:ssh	*	*	*	*	*	*
# For addresses coming from 8.8.0.0/16 block whole /24 networks instead
# individual hosts, but keep the rest of the blocking parameters the same.
8.8.0.0/16:ssh	*	*	*	/24	=	=
```

## SEE ALSO

[blacklistctl(8)](/blacklistctl/8.md), [blacklistd(8)](/blacklistd/8.md)

## NOTES

The **blacklistd.conf** file has been renamed to blocklistd.conf(8).

## HISTORY

**blacklistd.conf** first appeared in NetBSD 7. FreeBSD support for **blacklistd.conf** was implemented in FreeBSD 11.

## AUTHORS

Christos Zoulas