The registry is blocking transfers to another registrar.
The registry itself rejects transfer requests. It appears during disputes, during the redemption period, in the first days after registration under some registry policies, or when the owner has bought a registry lock service.
- EPP code
- serverTransferProhibited
- In RDAP
- server transfer prohibited
- Set by
- The registry (server status)
- Defined in
- RFC 5731 §2.3
- How serious
- Informational
Why it matters
If you didn’t ask for a registry lock, it can mean something about the domain needs resolving before it can move.
When you’d see it
High-value domains often carry all three server locks as part of a paid registry lock: changes then need an out-of-band confirmation between registrar and registry. For a small business domain, an unexpected server lock is worth a support ticket.
How it shows up in a lookup
In a gTLD WHOIS lookup it appears as “Domain Status: serverTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#serverTransferProhibited”; RDAP shows it as “server transfer prohibited”. It is a server status, so only the registry can add or remove it, and it overrides anything your registrar sets.
What to do
If you need to transfer the domain, ask your registrar to contact the registry. This takes longer than a registrar lock because the registrar has to pass the request on and the registry must lift it; some registries sell it deliberately as "registry lock".
Combination rules
pendingTransfer must not be combined with serverTransferProhibited (RFC 5731 §2.3).
Related codes
Sources
Sources
- RFC 5731 §2.3 (EPP Domain Name Mapping) · checked 5 Oct 2026
- ICANN: EPP Status Codes, What do they mean, and why should I know? · checked 5 Oct 2026
- RFC 8056: EPP and RDAP status mapping · checked 5 Oct 2026