When does a .be domain expire and drop?
- Expiry to drop
- 40 days
- Grace
- None
- Redemption
- 40 days
- Pending delete
- None
A deleted .be is released about 40 days after deletion. It enters quarantine, in which only the holder's registrar can reactivate it; nobody else can register it. At the end of quarantine it is released, with releases spread across the day rather than in one batch. .be is the country code of Belgium, run by DNS Belgium, and open to register worldwide.
Watch a .beThe .be timeline, stage by stage
The single stage a deleted .be passes through before release.
| Stage | Window | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Quarantine: about 40 days | Day 0 to 40 after expiry | The name has been deleted and cannot be registered by anyone else. Only the holder's registrar can reactivate it. At the end of quarantine it is released on the hour and open to new registration. |
| Released: registrable by anyone | From about day 40 | The name leaves the registry's deletion pipeline and returns to the public pool, registrable at the standard price on a first-come basis through any registrar. Availability monitoring exists to catch this moment. |
.be at a glance
- Registry
- DNS Belgium
- Backend
- DNS Belgium
- Type
- ccTLD
- Country
- Belgium
- Delegated
- 1988-08-05
- DNSSEC
- Yes
- IDN
- Yes
- Restrictions
- Open
- Label length
- 2–63 chars
- Redemption
- 40 days
- Expiry to drop
- 40 days
Quarantine, then an hourly release
.be has a single post-deletion stage. A deleted name enters quarantine for about 40 days, during which only the holder's registrar can reactivate it. Then it is released and anyone can register it.
The registry releases quarantined names on the hour throughout the day rather than in one daily batch, so there is no single drop time to wait for. Watching the name is the reliable way to hear the moment it is free.
Who runs .be, and since when
.be is the country code of Belgium, delegated in 1988 and run by DNS Belgium.
Registration was once limited to Belgian entities; today it is open to anyone. The quarantine documented here comes from the registry's published process, and our engine re-verifies it against the live record.
How to register a .be domain
A .be is open to anyone worldwide with no Belgian presence requirement, and is the default extension for Belgian businesses in all three national languages.
- Open to anyone, individual or company, with no Belgian presence required.
- Register through an accredited registrar; the registry sells wholesale.
- Labels run from 2 to 63 characters, and accented characters are supported as internationalized names.
- Registration is renewable; a deleted name enters the quarantine below.
Because quarantine is the only stage and releases happen through the day, the gap between deletion and release is short and the exact hour is unpredictable. Watch a .be you want.
.be technical profile
How .be publishes registration data, secures its zone, and handles non-Latin names.
WHOIS lookups
Registration data for a .be domain is queryable over WHOIS at whois.dns.be. The registry does not publish an RDAP service in the IANA bootstrap, so status and dates are read from WHOIS, which is what our monitoring reads.
DNSSEC
The .be registry supports DNSSEC, so a domain can publish DS records and let resolvers cryptographically validate its DNS answers against tampering.
Internationalized names
The .be registry supports internationalized domain names, so labels in non-Latin scripts register as punycode alongside ordinary ASCII names.
- WHOIS
- whois.dns.be
The registry signs the .be zone for DNSSEC and publishes status over WHOIS, so a name's move into quarantine is visible on the live record.
Is .be a good domain?
Where .be fits, and its trade-off.
A Belgian address
For a business serving Belgium, .be reads as local in Dutch, French and German alike.
A word as well as a country
Because "be" is an English verb, .be also suits short phrases and calls to action well beyond Belgium.
No single drop time
Hourly releases mean a lapsing .be can become free at any hour, so catching one takes a watch rather than an alarm clock.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about .be domains.
What is a .be domain?
.be is the country code top-level domain of Belgium, delegated in 1988 and run by DNS Belgium. It is open to register worldwide.
How long does it take for a deleted .be to drop?
About 40 days of quarantine, during which only the holder's registrar can reactivate it. It is then released on the hour and anyone can register it.
What time do .be domains drop?
There is no single daily batch. The registry releases quarantined names on the hour throughout the day.
Who can register a .be domain?
Anyone. There is no Belgian presence requirement; register through an accredited registrar.