Frequently Asked Questions

How can I subscribe or unsubscribe from notifications about RFCs?

There are “Subscribe” buttons across the site that allow you to receive notifications about the RFCs and subjects you care about. You must be logged in to subscribe.

• Subscription notifications are available on your account page and via email digests.
• To receive email digests of your notifications, check the “Send email digest?“ box on your account page. Uncheck this box to unsubscribe from these emails.
• Cancel individual subscriptions by clicking the appropriate “Unsubscribe” button on your account page.

Subscribe to individual RFCs:

• Receive notifications about updates, obsoletions, verified errata, or changes in the status of an RFC.
• Subscribe on RFC pages or anywhere an RFC appears with a “Subscribe” button.

Subscribe to subjects:

• Receive notifications when an RFC is published on your chosen subject, or when RFCs tagged with that subject are updated, obsoleted, etc.
• Subscribe in the right side margin on any subject page. Browse the subjects or follow the subject links on RFCs to find the topics you’re interested in.

Subscribe to Subseries (STD, BCP, FYI)

• Receive notifications when an RFC is added to or removed from a subseries, or when RFCs in the subseries are updated, obsoleted, etc.
• Subscribe in the right side margin on any subseries page.

Subscribe to all new RFCs:

• Receive notifications about the publication of all new RFCs when they are released.
• Subscribe by clicking the “Subscribe to new RFCs” button on the home page.

Please note that if you have joined the rfc-dist mailing list, to stop receiving these emails you will need to unsubscribe from that mailing list page as it is maintained separately from this site. You may also find new RFCs using an RSS feed, an Atom feed, via search, or by browsing all RFCs.

What is a set?

Sets allow you to create lists of RFCs you might want to return to later or share with others.

• You must be logged in to create or manage a set.
• Add an RFC to a set anywhere you see the “Add to Set” button.
• View a set page in your account by clicking on the title of the set.
• Share a set with others by sending them the URL of the set page.
• Remember that this content is public, so do not include any private information when creating a set. Inappropriate data may be removed.

Why didn’t the numbers change as soon as I rated an RFC?

When you rate an RFC, we show you your own rating immediately. However, we only recalculate average ratings and some other stats about once per hour, so it may take some time to see the updated aggregate results.

How can one determine where in the Standards Track an RFC is?

If the RFC is a Standards Track document, its info page will list its status (Internet Standard, Draft Standard, or Proposed Standard). See the full list of Internet Standards.

Note that there are also non-Standards Track statuses for RFCs: Experimental, Informational, Historic, and Best Current Practice (see RFC 2026).

Can the status of an RFC change after publication?

Yes, the status of an RFC can change; this information is available in several locations including the RFC info page and RFC search results. For example, an RFC can be moved from Proposed Standard to Internet Standard (as described in RFC 6410) or from Informational to Historic. For a list of all RFCs that have changed status, please see the list of status changes.

May I reproduce or translate an RFC?

All RFCs may be freely reproduced and translated (unmodified). See the IETF Trust Copyright FAQ for further information.

Who is the RFC Editor?

The RFC Editor is no longer a single person; the editing and publication functions are performed by the RFC Production Center, which is a small group of professional editors.

Why is there sometimes a gap between RFC numbers?

Occasionally, an RFC number is issued prior to publication to a document that does not get published as an RFC. (See this list of never-issued RFC numbers.) This explains the occasional gap between numbers. Current procedures attempt to avoid this situation.