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PS5 and Xbox · DNS

Block ads on PS5 and Xbox

Set your console’s DNS to the computer running AdHole, once: the ad and tracking servers on its lists no longer answer it. YouTube ads on the console stay: the reason is below.

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On a console whose DNS points to AdHole
  • Removed Ads and trackers served from ad servers, in its apps
  • Stays YouTube ads
  • Stays Netflix, Prime Video and Twitch ads

What changes

What a DNS filter changes on a console.

A console looks up names like any device: the game’s servers, the store, and the ad and measurement servers some apps use. With its DNS set to your computer, AdHole answers “nowhere” for the names on its lists, and everything else as before.

It’s a filter by name. It doesn’t look inside the console’s apps, and it can’t take an ad away from a video when both come from the same server.

Nothing is installed on the console. One network setting changes, and you can set it back at any time.

PS5

PS5: enter the DNS by hand.

  1. Find your computer’s address.

    The dashboard shows it, and so does adhole status: for example 192.168.1.20. Reserve it in your router if you can, so it doesn’t change.

  2. Open the connection settings.

    Settings → Network → Set Up Connection, then Custom. Menu names can differ with the console’s system version.

  3. Choose Manual DNS.

    Enter your computer’s address as the primary DNS, and confirm.

Xbox

Xbox: the same setting, not tested by us.

An Xbox also lets you enter a DNS address by hand, in its network settings. We haven’t done it on an Xbox, and we don’t show screens we haven’t seen: the address to enter is the same, your computer’s.

YouTube

Can you block YouTube ads on PS5? No. Here’s why.

On a console, YouTube’s ads come from the same servers as the videos. A DNS filter can only refuse a server: it can’t keep the video and drop the ad. That goes for AdHole, for a Pi-hole and for any DNS filter.

On a computer, AdHole goes further: it asks YouTube’s server, on the player’s behalf, for a response that schedules no ad, and removes the ads from video lists. That needs a certificate installed on the device. A PlayStation doesn’t accept one, and on an Xbox AdHole can’t do it either.

What works: watch on the computer where AdHole runs. In its browser, videos start without ads.

Games and the store

If a game or the store misbehaves.

We haven’t tested every game, online play or the store. Filtering works by name: if a name on the lists is also needed by a game or the store, something can stop working.

The dashboard shows live what goes through and what’s blocked. Find the name the console asked for, and allow it with one line in your rules.

Undo

Undo it with one setting.

Set the console’s DNS back to automatic: it uses your router’s DNS again, as before. Nothing else was changed on the console.

While it points to your computer, the computer has to stay on: the console loses internet when it’s off or asleep. On Windows, the computer’s network must be set to Private.

Questions

The usual questions.

Can you block YouTube ads on PS5 or Xbox?

Not with AdHole, and not with any DNS filter: on a console, YouTube’s ads come from the same servers as the videos. On the computer where AdHole runs, videos start without ads in the browser.

Do I need to install anything on the console?

No. Only its DNS setting changes. AdHole runs on your computer, Windows or Linux, and the console asks it for names.

What happens when my computer is off?

The console loses internet until the computer is back on, or until you set its DNS back to automatic. An always-on Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 running AdHole avoids that.

Does it protect my TV, console and phones?

Yes, once you set their DNS to the computer’s address in their network settings. They then lose the ads and trackers served from ad servers, but not YouTube’s. The computer must stay on, and on Windows its network must be set to Private. An Android phone has a second way: install the app on it, and it is filtered wherever it goes.

What it doesn’t do

  • Remove YouTube ads on the console, or those of Netflix, Prime Video and Twitch.
  • Look inside the console’s apps: it filters by name, nothing more.
  • Keep the console online while your computer is off or asleep.

Everything AdHole blocks, and what it doesn’t

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