Anti Spam

Anti-spam settings provide multi-layered protection to defend your form against spam and automated abuse. They include three major modules: Google reCAPTCHA, Block IP rules, and Honeypot Field.

Google reCAPTCHA

reCAPTCHA can protect your form from spam and other types of automated abuse.

Enable reCAPTCHA

When on, the form integrates Google reCAPTCHA for human verification.

reCAPTCHA Version

The reCAPTCHA version. Options:

• reCaptcha v2: Requires the user to click the "I'm not a robot" checkbox or complete an image challenge
• reCaptcha v3 (default): Runs automatically in the background, verifying user behavior without any user interaction

Choosing a Version

• v3 (recommended): Invisible verification with no user interaction; best user experience
• v2: Highly secure, but the user must complete verification manually (click the checkbox or select images)

Domain

Select the domain from which the reCAPTCHA script is loaded. Options:

• www.google.com (default): Official Google domain
• www.recaptcha.net: Dedicated Google reCAPTCHA domain

Domain Selection

If www.google.com is not accessible in some regions, you can switch to www.recaptcha.net as an alternative.

Site Key

Enter the Site key obtained after registering your site in the Google reCAPTCHA admin console.

Secret Key

Enter the Secret key you obtained.

Getting the Keys

1. Go to the Google reCAPTCHA admin console to register your site
2. Select the reCAPTCHA type (v2 or v3)
3. After successful registration, obtain the Site key and Secret key
4. Enter both keys here

Score

This field appears when reCaptcha v3 is selected. The verification score threshold for reCAPTCHA v3 (0.0 - 1.0). Submissions scoring below this value are flagged as bots and rejected.

Score Description

• 1.0: Definitely a real person
• 0.5 (recommended): Balances security and user experience
• 0.0: Definitely a bot

We recommend starting with the default value and adjusting based on spam submission activity.

Form Validation

When on (default), smart validation blocks automated spam and bot submissions.

Working with the Captcha Element

The reCAPTCHA in Anti spam is invisible background verification, while the Captcha element is a visible image arithmetic captcha. The two work together for multi-layered anti-spam protection.

Block IP Rules

Block specific IPs, emails, or keywords via rules to stop spam submissions. Each type of rule supports direct entry or referencing external rules via a file/URL.

Enable

When on, the block rules take effect.

IP Rules

Block by IP address. Enter the IPs to block directly in the text box, one IP per line.

IP Rules File

Reference IP block rules via a file or URL. For example: https://www.dnngo.net/blacklist/ip.txt

External Rule Files

Using external rule files makes it easy to maintain and update the block list. DNNGo provides a public IP blacklist file for reference. All rule file formats are one rule per line.

Mail Rules

Block by email address. Enter the emails to block directly, one email per line.

Mail Rules File

Reference email block rules via a file or URL. For example: https://www.dnngo.net/blacklist/mail.txt

Keyword Rules

Block by keyword. If the submitted content contains any of these keywords, it is blocked. One keyword per line.

Keyword Rules File

Reference keyword block rules via a file or URL. For example: https://www.dnngo.net/blacklist/keyword.txt

Combining the Three Rules

• IP Rules: Block submitters from specific IPs
• Mail Rules: Block submitters from specific emails
• Keyword Rules: Block content containing sensitive/spam words

All three can be enabled simultaneously to build multi-layered content filtering.

Honeypot Field

Enable Honeypot

When on, a hidden Honeypot field is added to the form.

What Is a Honeypot Field

A Honeypot field is a hidden field invisible to real users. Real users never see or fill it in, but bots typically complete every field automatically. If the Honeypot field is filled, the submission is flagged as a bot and rejected.

Advantages of the Honeypot field:

• Zero interference for real users (unlike captchas which require user interaction)
• Lightweight, does not affect the user experience
• Effectively blocks most automated spam submissions

Protection Recommendation

Enable reCAPTCHA + Block IP rules + Honeypot together for triple protection. The Honeypot field serves as the first line of defense against simple bots, reCAPTCHA handles smarter bots, and IP/email/keyword rules handle known spam sources.

Next Steps

• Popup — Popup form settings
• Form Settings Overview — View all setting categories
• Captcha Element — Visible image arithmetic captcha