Policy
Windows Defender Firewall: Allow ICMP exceptions
Microsoft Windows
Policy overview
Key metadata and intent for this policy.
Supported OS tags: Windows10, Windows10RT, Windows11, Windows7, Windows8, Windows81, WindowsRT, WindowsRT81, WindowsServer2008, WindowsServer2012, WindowsServer2012R2, WindowsServer2016, WindowsVista, WindowsXP
Defines the set of Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) message types that Windows Defender Firewall allows. Utilities can use ICMP messages to determine the status of other computers. For example, Ping uses the echo request message. If you do not enable the "Allow inbound echo request" message type, Windows Defender Firewall blocks echo request messages sent by Ping running on other computers, but it does not block outbound echo request messages sent by Ping running on this computer. If you enable this policy setting, you must specify which ICMP message types Windows Defender Firewall allows this computer to send or receive. If you disable this policy setting, Windows Defender Firewall blocks all the listed incoming and outgoing ICMP message types. As a result, utilities that use the blocked ICMP messages will not be able to send those messages to or from this computer. If you enable this policy setting and allow certain message types, then later disable this policy setting, Windows Defender Firewall deletes the list of message types that you had enabled. If you do not configure this policy setting, Windows Defender Firewall behaves as if you had disabled it. Note: If any policy setting opens TCP port 445, Windows Defender Firewall allows inbound echo requests, even if the "Windows Defender Firewall: Allow ICMP exceptions" policy setting would block them. Policy settings that can open TCP port 445 include "Windows Defender Firewall: Allow file and printer sharing exception," "Windows Defender Firewall: Allow remote administration exception," and "Windows Defender Firewall: Define inbound port exceptions." Note: Other Windows Defender Firewall policy settings affect only incoming messages, but several of the options of the "Windows Defender Firewall: Allow ICMP exceptions" policy setting affect outgoing communication.
Registry values
How enabled and disabled states update the registry.
No explicit registry values are set for enabled or disabled states.
Policy elements
Inputs and configuration options exposed by this policy.
| Scope | Element | Type | Registry mapping | Constraints & behavior | Copy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer | Allow outbound destination unreachable ID WF_IcmpSettings_AllowOutboundDestinationUnreachable | boolean | Path SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\DomainProfile\IcmpSettings Value name AllowOutboundDestinationUnreachable Type REG_DWORD | Options: true (1), false (0) True: Set value = 1 · False: Set value = 0 | |
| Computer | Allow outbound source quench ID WF_IcmpSettings_AllowOutboundSourceQuench | boolean | Path SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\DomainProfile\IcmpSettings Value name AllowOutboundSourceQuench Type REG_DWORD | Options: true (1), false (0) True: Set value = 1 · False: Set value = 0 | |
| Computer | Allow redirect ID WF_IcmpSettings_AllowRedirect | boolean | Path SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\DomainProfile\IcmpSettings Value name AllowRedirect Type REG_DWORD | Options: true (1), false (0) True: Set value = 1 · False: Set value = 0 | |
| Computer | Allow inbound echo request ID WF_IcmpSettings_AllowInboundEchoRequest | boolean | Path SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\DomainProfile\IcmpSettings Value name AllowInboundEchoRequest Type REG_DWORD | Options: true (1), false (0) True: Set value = 1 · False: Set value = 0 | |
| Computer | Allow inbound router request ID WF_IcmpSettings_AllowInboundRouterRequest | boolean | Path SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\DomainProfile\IcmpSettings Value name AllowInboundRouterRequest Type REG_DWORD | Options: true (1), false (0) True: Set value = 1 · False: Set value = 0 | |
| Computer | Allow outbound time exceeded ID WF_IcmpSettings_AllowOutboundTimeExceeded | boolean | Path SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\DomainProfile\IcmpSettings Value name AllowOutboundTimeExceeded Type REG_DWORD | Options: true (1), false (0) True: Set value = 1 · False: Set value = 0 | |
| Computer | Allow outbound parameter problem ID WF_IcmpSettings_AllowOutboundParameterProblem | boolean | Path SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\DomainProfile\IcmpSettings Value name AllowOutboundParameterProblem Type REG_DWORD | Options: true (1), false (0) True: Set value = 1 · False: Set value = 0 | |
| Computer | Allow inbound timestamp request ID WF_IcmpSettings_AllowInboundTimestampRequest | boolean | Path SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\DomainProfile\IcmpSettings Value name AllowInboundTimestampRequest Type REG_DWORD | Options: true (1), false (0) True: Set value = 1 · False: Set value = 0 | |
| Computer | Allow inbound mask request ID WF_IcmpSettings_AllowInboundMaskRequest | boolean | Path SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\DomainProfile\IcmpSettings Value name AllowInboundMaskRequest Type REG_DWORD | Options: true (1), false (0) True: Set value = 1 · False: Set value = 0 | |
| Computer | Allow outbound packet too big ID WF_IcmpSettings_AllowOutboundPacketTooBig | boolean | Path SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\DomainProfile\IcmpSettings Value name AllowOutboundPacketTooBig Type REG_DWORD | Options: true (1), false (0) True: Set value = 1 · False: Set value = 0 |