How to Use a Mastodon Relay to Bootstrap a New Single-User Instance

When you first set up a single-user Mastodon instance, the federated timeline is empty. Without existing followers or follows, the server receives almost no public posts from other instances. A Mastodon relay solves this by subscribing to a shared pool of public posts from participating servers. This article explains how to configure a relay on your instance to populate the federated timeline quickly.

Relays act as middlemen. They collect public posts from multiple instances and push those posts to every server subscribed to the relay. For a new single-user instance, using a relay is the fastest way to see content from the broader fediverse without manually following hundreds of accounts.

You will learn what a Mastodon relay is, how to subscribe to an existing relay, and how to avoid common pitfalls like excessive server load or unwanted content flooding your timeline.

What a Mastodon Relay Does for a Single-User Instance

A Mastodon relay is a specialized server that collects public posts from all its member instances and redistributes those posts to every other member. When you subscribe your single-user instance to a relay, your server begins receiving public posts from all other instances connected to that relay. This happens automatically without you needing to follow any accounts manually.

For a single-user instance, the relay solves the cold-start problem. Without a relay, your server only sees posts from accounts you directly follow and from instances that your instance has previously interacted with. On a brand-new instance with zero follows, the federated timeline remains blank. The relay fills that gap by pushing a continuous stream of public posts into your server’s inbound queue.

How Relays Differ from Manual Following

When you manually follow an account on a remote instance, your server requests that account’s posts and also discovers other accounts that account interacts with. This is slow and requires active curation. A relay, by contrast, delivers posts from many instances at once. Your server does not need to build a social graph first. The relay provides a broad, unfiltered feed of public content.

Prerequisites for Using a Relay

Before you can subscribe to a relay, your instance must have the relay feature enabled. This feature is available by default in Mastodon versions 3.0 and later. You also need administrator access to the server settings. For a single-user instance, you are the administrator, so you have full control. Finally, you need the URL of an active relay. Public relays run by community members are listed on relay.list.

Steps to Subscribe Your Instance to a Mastodon Relay

Follow these steps to add a relay to your single-user Mastodon instance. You will need a web browser and your administrator login credentials.

1. Log in as administrator
   Open your instance URL in a browser. Log in with the account that has administrator privileges. On a single-user instance, this is the account you created during setup.
2. Open the Server Settings menu
   Click the gear icon in the upper-right corner of the Mastodon interface. From the dropdown menu, select Administration. Then click Server Settings in the left sidebar.
3. Navigate to the Relays section
   In the Server Settings page, locate and click Relays in the left navigation panel. This section shows any relays your instance is already subscribed to and provides a form to add new ones.
4. Find a public relay URL
   Open a new browser tab and go to relay.list. This community-maintained site lists active Mastodon relays along with their URLs, descriptions, and current subscriber counts. Choose a relay that matches your language or content preferences. Copy its full URL, for example https://relay.example.com/inbox.
5. Add the relay URL
   Return to the Relays section of your instance. In the Add a new relay text field, paste the URL you copied. Click the Add button. Mastodon sends a subscription request to the relay server.
6. Wait for the relay to accept
   After you add the relay, its status appears as Pending. The relay operator must approve your subscription. Most public relays approve automatically within a few minutes. Refresh the Relays page after 5 minutes to check the status. When approved, the status changes to Enabled.
7. Verify the federated timeline
   Go to your instance’s federated timeline by clicking the globe icon in the Mastodon interface. If the relay is working, you should see public posts from other instances appearing within seconds. If the timeline remains empty, wait 10 minutes and refresh the page.

What to Avoid When Using a Mastodon Relay

Relays are powerful tools, but they can cause issues if misused. Here are the most common problems and how to avoid them.

Server Performance Degradation After Subscribing to a Large Relay

A relay with thousands of subscribers pushes a high volume of posts. On a single-user instance hosted on a low-cost VPS, the incoming traffic can overwhelm the server’s processing capacity. The symptom is a slow web interface or delayed post delivery. To avoid this, start with a small relay that has fewer than 50 subscribers. Monitor your server’s CPU and memory usage for the first 24 hours. If performance is acceptable, you can add a second larger relay later.

Unwanted Content Flooding Your Federated Timeline

Relays do not filter content. If the relay carries posts in languages you do not understand or from communities you do not want to see, your federated timeline becomes cluttered. To mitigate this, choose a relay that explicitly states its content focus. Many relays are tagged as general, tech, art, or regional on relay.list. You can also use Mastodon’s mute and block features on specific domains if the relay pushes content from an unwanted instance. Blocking a domain removes all posts from that instance from your timeline.

Relay Goes Offline or Is Discontinued

Public relays are run by volunteers. A relay may stop working without notice. When this happens, your instance stops receiving posts from that relay but continues to operate normally. Check the Relays section of your server settings periodically. If a relay shows a status of Disabled or Failed, remove it and add a different relay from relay.list. You can subscribe to multiple relays at once to reduce the impact of any single relay going offline.

Relay Subscription vs Manual Following: Key Differences

Item	Relay Subscription	Manual Following
Content source	All member instances of the relay	Only accounts you follow and their interactions
Setup time	Minutes	Hours or days of curation
Server load	Moderate to high depending on relay size	Low
Content control	Low, unless you block domains	High, you choose every account
Best for	Bootstrapping a new instance	Ongoing daily use after instance is established

After your instance has been running for a few weeks, you may want to reduce or remove the relay subscription. The relay’s broad feed can become noise once you have built a curated set of follows. To remove a relay, go to Administration > Server Settings > Relays, find the relay entry, and click the Delete button. Your instance retains all posts it already received, but it stops receiving new posts from that relay.

Using a Mastodon relay is the fastest method to bring your single-user instance to life. Subscribe to one small relay first, verify the federated timeline is populated, and then add a second relay if needed. For ongoing control over your content stream, consider removing the relay after you have followed enough accounts manually. The relay list at relay.list is updated regularly, so bookmark it for future reference.