SMTP Error Encyclopedia · Entry 012

Temporary rate or policy deferral

Generic · Policy · 421 4.7.0

Exact response pattern421 4.7.0 Temporary system problem. Try again later
TemporaryGenericPolicy

What it means

The provider is temporarily deferring traffic, commonly because of rate, reputation or policy signals.

Likely causes

  • Volume increased too quickly.
  • Poor recent reputation.
  • Complaint or bounce signals.
  • Too many parallel connections.

Recommended response

  1. Reduce concurrency and hourly rate.
  2. Preserve retries.
  3. Review authentication, complaints and recent list changes.
  4. Recover gradually after acceptance improves.
Operational rule: Preserve the complete SMTP response, remote hostname, sending IP, envelope sender and timestamp. Never diagnose from the three-digit code alone.

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