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How to disable XML-RPC in WordPress

XML-RPC was added in WordPress 3.5 and allows for remote connections, and unless you are using your mobile device to post to WordPress it does more bad than good. In fact, it can open your site up to a bunch of security risks. There are a few plugins that utilize this such as JetPack, but we don’t recommend using JetPack for performance reasons.

Disable XML-RPC

Follow the steps below to disable XML-RPC. Note: If you’re a Kinsta client, XML-RPC is already disabled by default.

Step 1

Click into the Perfmatters plugin settings.

Perfmatters plugin settings
Perfmatters plugin settings

Step 2

Make sure you’re on the “General” submenu.

Perfmatters General submenu
Perfmatters General submenu

Step 3

Toggle on “Disable XML-RPC.”

Disable XML-RPC with Perfmatters plugin
Disable XML-RPC with Perfmatters plugin

Step 4

Scroll down and click “Save Changes.” The endpoint for XML-RPC is now disabled.

The feature also removes the XML-RPC HTTP response header associated with it.

XML-RPC HTTP response header
XML-RPC HTTP response header

It also removes the following link tag from your site’s source code.

<link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" title="RSD" href="https://testing.local/xmlrpc.php?rsd" />

Verify XML-RPC is disabled

You can verify that XML-RPC is disabled by using this free XML-RPC validation tool. If you get an error such as the one below, then you are good to go.

check if xml-rpc is enabled
Check if XML-RPC is enabled

Disable XML-RPC at server-level

If you need a more aggressive approach, you can also disable XML-RPC at the server-level.

Nginx

If you’re using an Nginx web server, add the following code to your Nginx config.

location ~* ^/xmlrpc.php$ {
deny all;
}

Apache

If you’re using an Apache web server, add the following code to your .htaccess file.

<Files xmlrpc.php>
Order Allow,Deny
Deny from all
</Files>

Note that with the above approach, you might need to whitelist services like JetPack, or other solutions that utilize XML-RPC.

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