panic

The panic command activates an emergency lockdown that immediately blocks all domains and hides dangerous commands.

Overview

Panic mode is designed for crisis moments when you need absolute protection against impulsive access. It:

Immediately blocks all configured domains
Hides commands like unblock, allow, disallow
Cannot be disabled until the timer expires
Minimum duration of 15 minutes

Subcommands

Subcommand	Description
`panic DURATION`	Activate panic mode
`panic status`	Check panic mode status
`panic extend MINUTES`	Extend panic duration

panic DURATION

Activate panic mode for the specified duration.

Usage

nextdns-blocker panic DURATION

Duration Formats

Format	Example	Description
Minutes	`60`	60 minutes
Minutes	`30m`	30 minutes
Hours	`2h`	2 hours
Days	`1d`	1 day

Examples

# Activate for 1 hour
nextdns-blocker panic 60

# Activate for 30 minutes
nextdns-blocker panic 30m

# Activate for 4 hours
nextdns-blocker panic 4h

# Activate for 1 day
nextdns-blocker panic 1d

Output

⚠️  PANIC MODE ACTIVATED

Duration: 60 minutes
Expires at: 2024-01-15 15:30:00

All domains are now blocked.
The following commands are disabled:
  - unblock
  - allow
  - disallow

Subcommands also restricted:
  - config edit
  - pending cancel
  - watchdog disable

Panic mode cannot be cancelled.
Wait for expiration or use 'panic extend' to add more time.

Minimum Duration

Panic mode requires a minimum of 15 minutes to be effective:

nextdns-blocker panic 10

Output:

Error: Minimum panic duration is 15 minutes

panic status

Check the current panic mode status.

Usage

nextdns-blocker panic status

Output (Active)

Panic Mode Status
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Status: ACTIVE

Activated: 2024-01-15 14:30:00
Expires: 2024-01-15 15:30:00
Remaining: 45 minutes

Hidden commands:
  - unblock
  - allow
  - disallow

Hidden subcommands:
  - config edit
  - pending cancel
  - watchdog disable

Output (Inactive)

Panic Mode Status
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Status: Inactive

Use 'panic DURATION' to activate
Example: nextdns-blocker panic 60

panic extend

Extend the current panic mode duration.

Usage

nextdns-blocker panic extend MINUTES

Example

# Add 30 more minutes
nextdns-blocker panic extend 30

Output

Panic mode extended by 30 minutes
New expiration: 2024-01-15 16:00:00
Remaining: 75 minutes

Requirements

Panic mode must be active
Extension adds to remaining time

What Happens During Panic Mode

All Domains Blocked

Every domain in your blocklist is immediately added to the NextDNS denylist, regardless of schedule:

Before panic:
  reddit.com: AVAILABLE (within schedule)
  twitter.com: BLOCKED
  youtube.com: AVAILABLE (within schedule)

After panic:
  reddit.com: BLOCKED (panic override)
  twitter.com: BLOCKED
  youtube.com: BLOCKED (panic override)

Commands Hidden

These commands are completely hidden from help and tab completion:

Command	Why Hidden
`unblock`	Would bypass panic
`allow`	Would add allowlist entries that bypass blocks
`disallow`	Hidden for consistency

Subcommands Hidden

These subcommands are also hidden during panic mode:

Subcommand	Why Hidden
`config edit`	Would allow modifying schedules
`pending cancel`	Would allow cancelling pending actions
`watchdog disable`	Would stop automatic sync

Attempting to run them directly:

nextdns-blocker unblock reddit.com

Output:

Error: Command 'unblock' is not available during panic mode
Panic mode expires at: 2024-01-15 15:30:00

Sync Behavior

During panic mode, sync:

Blocks all domains regardless of schedule
Skips unblock processing
Skips allowlist sync (prevents bypasses)
Processes pending action cancellation (cleanup only)

Pending Actions

Pending unblock actions are paused during panic mode:

Their timers continue
But execution is skipped
They resume processing after panic expires

Why Panic Mode?

Panic mode is based on behavioral psychology research:

Crisis Moments: During moments of weakness, you need absolute protection
No Loopholes: Hidden commands prevent “just this once” thinking
Time-Based: You know it will end, reducing desperation
Extendable: If needed, you can add more time

Recommended Use Cases

Situation	Recommended Duration
Feeling tempted	30-60 minutes
After a slip	2-4 hours
Bad day	4-8 hours
Weekend protection	24-48 hours
Recovery period	Multiple days

Panic Mode vs Other Features

Feature	Purpose	Can Disable
Panic mode	Crisis protection	No
Schedule	Regular access	Via config
Allowlist	Permanent exceptions	Yes

State Storage

Panic state is stored in:

macOS/Linux: ~/.local/share/nextdns-blocker/.panic
Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\nextdns-blocker\.panic

The file contains an ISO 8601 timestamp of expiration.

Troubleshooting

Cannot activate panic mode

Check for existing panic:

nextdns-blocker panic status

Panic mode not blocking

Force a sync:

nextdns-blocker config push

Check watchdog is running:

nextdns-blocker watchdog status

Need to end panic early

This is intentionally not possible. Panic mode’s effectiveness comes from its inescapability.

Options:

Wait for expiration
In extreme emergencies, delete the .panic file (not recommended)

Domains still accessible

They might be:

Cached in your browser (clear cache)
Cached in your OS DNS (flush DNS)
Not going through NextDNS (check DNS settings)

# macOS: Flush DNS
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

# Linux
sudo systemctl restart systemd-resolved

# Windows
ipconfig /flushdns