It depends on how you're proxying the connection. The VPS provider can of course see which hosts are sending you mail but unless you intentionally terminate the TLS connection on your VPS (or if other people's MTAs don't encrypt their connections but that's pretty rare these days since IIRC Gmail won't deliver your mail if you don't) then it and the VPS provider can't see anything more.
Good luck setting that up (and maintaining it.) I quit hosting my own mail because it going down is an actual emergency so it's like being on call at work but instead of getting paid extra you just lose mail from time to time. --Stephen On Fri, Sep 18, 2026 at 12:05:57AM +0000, [email protected] wrote: > I am considering running my own email domain/server. > To protect my private home IP, I was thinking of using a VPS, tunnelled > back. > > Will the VPS "see" my email this way, relaying off the VPS server to my > local one? > (see diagram) > > Is there a better approach to retain privacy without revealing my IP? > > Would appreciate any input on this, as I have never run email myself before. > Thanks for any suggestions > > DNS Domain VPS Host (static IP) > ┌─────────┐ ┌──────────┐ > │MX Record┼────►│OpenSMTPD │ > └─────────┘ └────┬─────┘ > │ > │ Wireguard tunnel > ▼ > ┌──────────┐ > │pf.conf │ (allow mail in) > │OpenSMTPD │ > └──────────┘ >
