---
title: "Relay Modes"
description: "Relay can operate in different modes depending on your organization's needs."
url: https://docs.sentry.io/product/relay/modes/
---

# Relay Modes

Relay can operate in one of several major modes, and it is critical to understand the modes prior if you are configuring the Relay server rather than using the default settings.

The mode is stored in the configuration file, which contains the `relay.mode` field. This field specifies the mode in which Relay will run: `managed` or `proxy`. The Relay mode controls whether or not Relay obtains project settings for events.

In Sentry, event processing is configured according to both project and organization settings. Some settings, such as privacy controls, are set at the organization level, then inherited by all projects in that organization; other settings are specified per project. For Relay, events are processed according to the inherited project settings to which the event is sent.

Configuration for Relay is refreshed in regular intervals by polling Sentry. Sentry does not need line-of-sight to your Relays. See [Configuration Options](https://docs.sentry.io/product/relay/options.md) regarding configuration of intervals, timeouts, and retries.

## [Managed Mode](https://docs.sentry.io/product/relay/modes.md#managed-mode)

Managed is Relay's default mode. Because settings are obtained from Sentry, authentication is required in this mode. If authentication fails, no events will be accepted by Relay.

As Relay receives events from your applications, it will request project settings from Sentry to process the events. If Sentry is unable to provide the settings for a particular project, all data for that project will be discarded.

To activate managed mode, set this configuration:

```yaml
relay:
  mode: managed
```

## [Proxy Mode](https://docs.sentry.io/product/relay/modes.md#proxy-mode)

Proxy mode forwards all events with minimal processing and does not receive any project settings from Sentry.

##### Rate Limiting

Rate limiting is still applied in `proxy` mode for all projects.

To activate proxy mode, set this configuration:

```yaml
relay:
  mode: proxy
```

## [Static Mode](https://docs.sentry.io/product/relay/modes.md#static-mode)

Static mode has been deprecated as of Relay version 25.9.0. Please use `managed` or `proxy` mode instead. When switching to `managed` mode don't forget to migrate any data scrubbing rules in your config directory by \[configuring them in the Sentry UI]\(/security-legal-pii /scrubbing/).