Pi-hole can schedule bedtime restrictions by switching DNS blocking on and off, but it is not a guaranteed internet kill switch. Pi-hole provides the blocking controls; a recurring schedule needs an external scheduler or home-automation system to trigger them. The setup below explains how to choose the right scope, connect devices, and automate the change without implying that every device or connection can be stopped.
What Pi-hole can—and cannot—shut off
Pi-hole filters DNS requests: when a queried domain is blocked, its blocking mode can return a response such as 0.0.0.0 or ::. That can prevent a device using Pi-hole from resolving blocked domains, but it does not itself disable the device’s network connection or block every kind of traffic. See Pi-hole’s blocking mode documentation.
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The rule only affects devices whose DNS requests go through Pi-hole. A device configured to use another resolver, connected through a VPN, using cellular data, or on a different network may bypass the intended restriction. If the requirement is a hard cutoff for a device’s network access, consider router-level access controls as a separate mechanism; DNS blocking alone should not be presented as an absolute shutoff.
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Choose which devices the schedule should affect
All clients using Pi-hole
Use Pi-hole’s global blocking control when bedtime should apply to every client relying on Pi-hole. This is the simpler scope, but it also means the scheduled change affects everyone using that DNS service.
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Selected devices
For restrictions on only particular devices, use Pi-hole’s client and group management to associate clients with the relevant rules. Groups control how clients and rules relate, so check group membership and rule assignments carefully before relying on them for a bedtime policy. See the Group Management documentation.
Prepare the Pi-hole host and route devices through it
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Install Pi-hole on supported hardware and an operating system. Raspberry Pi OS is one supported option, but a Raspberry Pi is not required; check the prerequisites for supported operating systems and architectures.
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Give the Pi-hole host a static IP address or a DHCP reservation. Pi-hole’s prerequisites state: “Pi-hole needs a static IP address to properly function (a DHCP reservation is just fine).”
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Configure the router’s DHCP settings to provide the Pi-hole address as the DNS server for home clients. Pi-hole’s post-install guide describes this network-wide approach.
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If the router cannot specify DNS servers, Pi-hole can instead provide DHCP. Turn off the router’s DHCP service before enabling Pi-hole’s DHCP server, so the two services do not compete to assign addresses.
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As a fallback, configure DNS manually on individual devices. Then verify the DNS server each device actually uses; a network-wide router setting does not guarantee that every device follows it.
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Test the blocking control before adding a schedule
Pi-hole’s command reference documents pihole disable 5m as an example of temporarily disabling blocking for five minutes, and pihole enable to turn it back on. These commands change the global blocking state; the timed disable is a one-time duration, not a recurring bedtime schedule. Consult the pihole command reference for the current command behavior.
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Before automating a routine, verify on the intended devices that DNS is routed through Pi-hole and that the chosen blocking scope produces the expected result. Check again after changing router, client, or group settings.
Make bedtime recurring with an external automation
A recurring schedule requires something outside Pi-hole to trigger its blocking control at the chosen times. Pi-hole’s official Home Assistant guide demonstrates authenticated API calls to set blocking to false or true and automations that issue those changes. This approach requires a running Home Assistant instance as well as Pi-hole.
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Set up Pi-hole and confirm that the devices in scope use it for DNS.
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Configure the authenticated API control described in Pi-hole’s Home Assistant guide.
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Create scheduled automation actions that switch Pi-hole blocking off and on at the desired times. Ensure the scheduled actions match your chosen scope: the documented global state switch applies to global blocking.
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Test both transitions and confirm the resulting blocking state in Pi-hole. Keep in mind that the Home Assistant example does not reconcile state changes made through other controls. If you also change blocking manually or through another automation, check how those changes interact with the schedule.
For reliability, the Pi-hole host and automation system must remain powered and available at the scheduled times. A schedule cannot enforce the rule while its control system is unavailable, and devices must continue using Pi-hole’s DNS filtering for it to affect them.
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| Method | Scope | Schedule mechanism | Control plane |
|---|---|---|---|
| Timed CLI disable | Global blocking | One-time duration, such as the documented five-minute example | Command line |
| Scheduled automation | Global blocking in Pi-hole’s documented Home Assistant example | Recurring external automation | Authenticated API and Home Assistant |
| Client and group rules | Selected clients, according to group and rule assignments | Group-based policy management; a recurring schedule requires an external trigger | Pi-hole group management |
| Router-level access controls | Determined by the router’s controls | Separate from Pi-hole’s DNS schedule | Router |
These methods are not interchangeable: Pi-hole’s global switch changes DNS blocking, while a router’s access controls govern network access at the router. The official Pi-hole documentation cited here does not establish that Pi-hole alone can prevent every bypass.
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