Use urgent mode when pinging domain controllers
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
Path in the GPO console
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Net Logon Description
This policy setting configures whether the computers to which this setting is applied are more aggressive when trying to locate a domain controller (DC). When an environment has a large number of DCs running both old and new operating systems, the default DC locator discovery behavior may be insufficient to find DCs running a newer operating system. This policy setting can be enabled to configure DC locator to be more aggressive about trying to locate a DC in such an environment, by pinging DCs at a higher frequency. Enabling this setting may result in additional network traffic and increased load on DCs. You should disable this setting once all DCs are running the same OS version. The allowable values for this setting result in the following behaviors: 1 - Computers will ping DCs at the normal frequency. 2 - Computers will ping DCs at the higher frequency. To specify this behavior, click Enabled and then enter a value. The range of values is from 1 to 2. If you do not configure this policy setting, it is not applied to any computers, and computers use their local configuration.
Registry
Software\Policies\Microsoft\Netlogon\Parameters MDM / Intune (CSP)
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Netlogon/Netlogon_PingUrgencyMode Microsoft Learn documentation Mapping data: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0)
Export Builder
BETAConfigure the state, scope and options, then generate .reg, PowerShell, Intune and SCCM outputs — or add the setting to a multi-setting collection.
These exports write the registry — this is not a managed GPO. ⓘ
.reg file
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Exported from gporais.com
; Policy: Use urgent mode when pinging domain controllers
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Netlogon\Parameters]
"PingUrgencyMode"=dword:00000002More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Use urgent mode when pinging domain controllers
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Netlogon\Parameters'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'PingUrgencyMode' -Value 2 -Type DWordIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Netlogon/Netlogon_PingUrgencyMode
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>
<data id="Netlogon_PingUrgencyModeLabel" value="2"/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Use urgent mode when pinging domain controllers
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Netlogon\Parameters' -Name 'PingUrgencyMode' -Expected 2 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Use urgent mode when pinging domain controllers
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Netlogon\Parameters'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'PingUrgencyMode' -Value 2 -Type DWordSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Use urgent mode when pinging domain controllers
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
# SCCM Configuration Item guidance:
# Create a Configuration Item of type "Setting: Script".
# Discovery script: use the Detection script below.
# Remediation script: use the Remediation script below.
# Compliance rule: the Discovery script output equals 'Compliant'.
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Use urgent mode when pinging domain controllers
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Netlogon\Parameters' -Name 'PingUrgencyMode' -Expected 2 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Use urgent mode when pinging domain controllers
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Netlogon\Parameters'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'PingUrgencyMode' -Value 2 -Type DWordBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.