What is the DirectAdmin Default Email Account?
When you add a domain to your AnyDomain.email service, DirectAdmin automatically creates what appears to be a “default” email account based on your service username. This is NOT intended to be used as a regular email address and we strongly recommend against using it for normal email communication.
What Does This Account Actually Do?
The default email account is actually your Linux system username for the service, repurposed as an email address. This username is typically the first 8 characters of the initial domain name you provided during signup (you have no control over this selection). The account serves as a spam quarantine inbox with two specific functions:
1. SpamAssassin spam destination – When SpamAssassin is configured to route flagged spam messages, they end up in this inbox rather than being delivered normally.
2. Forwarder spam handling – When an email arrives addressed to one of your forwarders but has been flagged as spam by SpamAssassin, instead of forwarding the spam to its intended destination, the message is routed to this default account. This prevents spam from cluttering your regular email or being forwarded to external addresses where it could cause deliverability problems.
Important Limitations
Shared Inbox Across All Domains
While DirectAdmin’s interface makes it appear that each domain has its own default account, there is only one system username across all domains on your service. This means:
- What appears as “username@domain1.com”, “username@domain2.com”, etc. are all the same shared inbox
- Spam quarantined from all your domains will appear mixed together
- You cannot separate spam by domain
- The interface is misleading about having individual default accounts per domain
This is a limitation of DirectAdmin’s design, as email functionality is not their primary focus.
Mail Delivery Behavior
While mail sent to these addresses (like username@yourdomain.com) will be delivered to the default account, we strongly discourage using them for regular email communication because they share the same inbox used for spam quarantine.
Login Credentials
To access this mailbox, you must use:
- Username: Your DirectAdmin username (without any domain name)
- Password: Your DirectAdmin password
Many users expect to use a full email address format, but this will not work for the default account.
Password Changes
Important: This is not a separate email account with its own password. To change access to this inbox, you must change your DirectAdmin account password, which will affect your entire service login, not just email access. Do not attempt to change the password through email clients or webmail – use DirectAdmin’s account settings.
Why We Don’t Recommend Using This Account
It receives spam and quarantined messages, making it unsuitable for regular communication All domains share the same inbox, creating privacy and organization issues It’s primarily a technical spam quarantine, not a functional email account The shared nature means you may see spam intended for your other domains mixed together
What Should You Do Instead?
Create proper, intentionally-named email addresses for your actual email needs. Use the default account only for reviewing quarantined spam if necessary, but don’t rely on it for regular email communication. The default account exists purely as a technical requirement for spam handling and as your system username – treat it as such rather than as a usable email address.
