Mastodon Relay Inbound Posts Counter: How to Monitor in Admin

Mastodon relays aggregate public posts from multiple instances into a single federated timeline. As an admin, you need to know how many inbound posts your relay processes to gauge its health and performance. The inbound posts counter is a built-in metric in the Mastodon admin interface that shows the total number of statuses received from connected instances. This article explains how to access and interpret the relay inbound posts counter in Mastodon admin.

What the Inbound Posts Counter Tracks in Mastodon Relays

A Mastodon relay is a service that collects public posts from participating instances and redistributes them to all other connected instances. The inbound posts counter tracks the total number of statuses that the relay has received from its member instances since the relay was created or last reset. This counter is a key indicator of relay activity and federation health.

When you subscribe your instance to a relay, your server sends its public posts to the relay and receives posts from all other subscribers. The inbound counter increments each time the relay processes a new status from any connected instance. A healthy relay should show a steadily increasing inbound count. If the counter remains flat or grows very slowly, it may indicate low participation, connectivity issues, or misconfigured relay settings.

What the Counter Does Not Show

The inbound posts counter is a simple total. It does not break down posts by instance, show the number of unique authors, or indicate whether posts were successfully delivered to your local users. For detailed analytics, you need to combine the counter with other admin tools such as the federation timeline or log files.

How to View the Inbound Posts Counter in Mastodon Admin

Follow these steps to access the relay inbound posts counter from the Mastodon web admin panel.

1. Open the admin panel
   Log in to your Mastodon instance as an admin. Click the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the top-right corner of the Mastodon web interface. Select Preferences from the dropdown menu.
2. Navigate to Administration > Relays
   In the left sidebar of the Preferences page, click Administration to expand the section. Then click Relays. This opens the Relays management page listing all relays your instance is subscribed to.
3. Identify the relay to inspect
   On the Relays page, you see a table with columns: Relay URL, Status (enabled or disabled), and Inbound posts. The Inbound posts column displays the total count for each relay.
4. Click the relay name for details
   Click the relay URL or name to open its detail page. On this page, the Inbound posts counter is shown prominently at the top, along with the relay status and the date it was added.
5. Check the Dashboard for activity graphs
   From the admin sidebar, click Dashboard. Scroll to the Relay activity section. This graph plots inbound post volume over time, helping you spot trends such as sudden drops or spikes.

Using the Mastodon Admin API for Programmatic Monitoring

If you need to automate monitoring or integrate the counter into a custom dashboard, use the Mastodon admin API. Send a GET request to the endpoint /api/v1/admin/relays/:id, replacing :id with the relay’s numeric ID. The response includes a statuses_count field that holds the inbound posts total.

To find the relay ID, navigate to the relay detail page in the admin panel. The URL contains the ID, for example /admin/relays/5 means the relay ID is 5. You can also list all relays via /api/v1/admin/relays and extract the ID from the response.

Common Issues and Misconceptions About the Inbound Posts Counter

The Counter Shows Zero Even Though the Relay Is Active

If the inbound posts counter remains at zero after enabling a relay, the relay may not be receiving any posts from other instances. This can happen if the relay is newly created and no other instances have subscribed yet. Alternatively, the relay might be misconfigured on your instance. Verify that the relay status shows Enabled on the Relays page. If it shows Disabled, click the Enable button next to the relay. Also confirm that your instance’s public posts are being sent to the relay by checking the Federation logs in the admin panel under Administration > Federation.

The Counter Stops Incrementing After a Period of Normal Activity

A flat counter after initial growth usually indicates that the relay has been removed by its owner or that the relay service has gone offline. Check the relay status on the Relays page. If the relay shows Disabled or Unreachable, the relay is no longer accepting posts. Contact the relay operator or consider switching to a different relay. You can also inspect the relay’s health by visiting its status page if one is provided.

The Counter Shows a Very High Number That Seems Incorrect

The inbound posts counter includes all statuses ever received by the relay since its creation. If the relay has been running for months, the number can be in the millions. This is normal. To get a sense of recent activity, use the relay activity graph on the Dashboard instead of the raw total. The graph shows posts per day or per hour, giving you a more useful view of current performance.

Inbound Posts Counter vs Other Relay Metrics

Item	Inbound Posts Counter	Relay Activity Graph
Description	Total number of statuses received by the relay since creation	Visual plot of inbound post volume over time
Update frequency	Real-time, increments with each new post	Refreshes every few minutes
Granularity	Single cumulative number	Shows daily or hourly totals
Use case	Quick health check or automation	Trend analysis and anomaly detection
Access location	Admin > Relays > Relay detail page	Admin > Dashboard > Relay activity section

The inbound posts counter gives you a fast, reliable way to confirm that your Mastodon relay is actively receiving content from the fediverse. By checking the counter regularly and pairing it with the activity graph, you can spot problems early and keep your federation pipeline running smoothly. For advanced monitoring, use the admin API to export the counter data to your own logging or alerting system.