01 · Operator
Who operates DuckDuckBot
- Company
- DuckDuckGo
- Official docs
- duckduckgo.com
02 · Behavior
What DuckDuckBot does
DuckDuckBot crawls web pages to improve DuckDuckGo search results. DuckDuckGo states that it respects robots.txt rules. Its help page lists the IP addresses it crawls from.
03 · Impact
Why DuckDuckBot matters for your site
If you allow it
- Your pages can appear in DuckDuckGo results
- Brings traffic from privacy-focused users
- Honors robots.txt
If you block it
- Adds crawl load if you do not care about DuckDuckGo traffic
04 · Allow
How to allow DuckDuckBot
robots.txt
User-agent: DuckDuckBot
Allow: /
Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "DuckDuckBot")
Action: Skip › All Super Bot Fight Mode rules
# Also check Security › Bots: "Block AI bots" can block it regardless of robots.txt.
WordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: DuckDuckBot
Allow: /
nginx
# nginx serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure no rule like this blocks it:
# if ($http_user_agent ~* "DuckDuckBot") { return 403; }
Apache
# Apache serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure .htaccess has no rule like this:
# RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} DuckDuckBot [NC]
# RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
05 · Block
How to block DuckDuckBot
DuckDuckBot follows robots.txt, so one rule is enough. Use a server or CDN rule only to stop spoofed copies.
robots.txt
User-agent: DuckDuckBot
Disallow: /
Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "DuckDuckBot")
Action: Block
WordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: DuckDuckBot
Disallow: /
nginx
# In your server { } block:
if ($http_user_agent ~* "DuckDuckBot") {
return 403;
}
Apache
# .htaccess
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} DuckDuckBot [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</IfModule>
06 · User agents
User agents we see for DuckDuckBot
The user agent published by the operator:
DuckDuckBot/1.1; (+http://duckduckgo.com/duckduckbot.html)
07 · Verification
Is it really DuckDuckBot?
DuckDuckBot’s operator publishes no IP ranges or hostnames, so requests cannot be verified. Treat the user agent as a claim, and watch your logs for unusual request rates.
FAQ
Questions about DuckDuckBot
What is DuckDuckBot?
DuckDuckBot is the crawler DuckDuckGo uses to improve its search results.
Does DuckDuckBot respect robots.txt?
Yes. DuckDuckGo states that DuckDuckBot respects robots.txt rules.
How do I verify DuckDuckBot?
Compare the request IP with the list of addresses on DuckDuckGo's DuckDuckBot help page.
Last reviewed Oct 7, 2026