Is it possible for a user to query the state of a given lemmy server’s federation state?

According to the lemmy documentation the server can be configured with one of three different states of federation:

  1. Open
  2. Blocklist
  3. Allowlist

Unfortunately, I joined a lemmy instance that was set to “allowlist” and therefore I couldn’t interact with most of the lemmy fediverse :(

I’m wondering if it’s possible for non-users to query a server to see what federation state it’s set-to, so that users can be aware of how limited their content will be before they signup.

  • maltfieldOPEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    Thanks! I can’t find any field that specifies open or blocklist or allowlist but I do see arrays for linked and allowed and blocked. My best-guess is:

    • if allowed is not null, then the server’s federation is in allowlist state
    • if blocked is not null, then the server’s federation is in blocklist state

    …but I could be totally wrong

    And I don’t know how to determine if the server’s federation state is open.

    It would be good if we had three example servers – one in each state (open, blocklist, and allowlist) so that I could compare the API’s output for each.

    Edit: /u/Nutomic clarified this on GitHub:

    Regarding “federation state”: You can have a blocklist, then Lemmy will federate with every instance except blocked ones. Or have an allowlist, then it will only federate with the allowed ones. If neither is set then it also federate with everything. Using allowlist and blocklist together doesnt make much sense, then it would only federate with allowed instances which are not in the blocklist.

    • wintermute@feddit.deEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      if allowed is not null, then the server’s federation is in allowlist state

      this.

      otherwise it’s open federation with or without blocklist

      • maltfieldOPEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        wait but there’s three states. If it’s not allowlist then it’s either open or blocklist – according to the documentation.

        Are you suggesting that if both are null then the federation state is set to open?