What is xmlrpc.php

Support
1

I have noticed the file xmlrpc.php

What is this please?
It shows up under crawl errors in search console. (Error 405)

I noticed this:

So should I disable it in CP or what?

Thanks

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2

I know I always disable it and have no negative repurcussions from doing so.

It is to big a risk for something that is unnessecary

Side note: I do not use Jetpack, and I heard it is nessecary for that.

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3

I disable it on every site since I have no need to access any of my sites remotely.

I was using the few lines added into .htaccess, but now that I am using Shield security it’s even easier - there is a simple setting to disable it.

4

It is used for legacy and WordPress apps like Android or iOS.
If you don’t need there are a lot of plugins that enable you to disable it, usually the security plugins.

5

Thanks I will disable it but can anyone say why it shows as a crawl error?

6

Probably because it’s not meant to be crawled. add /xmlrpc.php to your robots.txt disallow and it should stop appearing

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7

Another thing that requires XML-RPC to be active is the WordPress mobile apps, though I think these apps may also require Jetpack these days?

If you’re not using this, it’s fine to delete or disable it. We’ll be making this possible in ClassicPress v2 (petition, roadmap).

I wouldn’t be too concerned about the error in the search console - many millions of sites will be showing the same behavior, so it is not something that Google could reasonably penalize you for.

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