Parcel drop QR code
A small sign next to the doorbell, holding the instructions a courier needs: which door, which neighbour, which safe place, and a number to call if none of that is possible.
Create a drop-off codePlain text for the courier
Editorial teamLast reviewed: 29 October 2026Editorial standards
Short answer
There is no official standard for this. The code contains plain text that a person reads: recipient, drop location, which carriers it applies to and a contact number. A binding drop instruction lives in the carrier app, not on a printed code.
This is the most local type in the whole list. A code that says leave it in the back porch is meaningless anywhere else, and useful in one hallway.
It is also the type with the most honest caveat: no carrier reads it automatically. A human being has to point a camera at it and read the text, which is exactly why the text has to be short and unambiguous.
What is in the code
Plain text in lines: the recipient surname, the drop location, the carriers it applies to, a number for questions and one extra note if needed. No encoding, no interface, nothing that any logistics system parses.
That sounds trivial and it is the point. The code works because a courier reads it in five seconds while holding a parcel, and it fails when the text is a paragraph.
- Surname, so the courier can match the parcel to the flat
- A specific place: behind the blue door, left shelf, not the neighbour
- Name the carriers the note applies to
- A number to call, so the courier does not have to ring the bell
What it cannot do
It cannot change what the carrier does. Delivery instructions that count legally are set in the carrier app or in a drop-off agreement, and a printed sign does not create one. If the parcel goes missing after being left somewhere the courier was not authorised to leave it, a code on the wall will not settle the argument.
It also does not survive a change of tenant quietly. Whoever inherits the flat inherits the sign, so take it down when you move.
Making it readable in a hallway
Hallways are badly lit and codes are usually printed at home. 5 cm is a sensible minimum, and the paper should be laminated or in a plastic sleeve, because the same code will be scanned in the rain and with a thumb over the corner.
Put the code at eye level next to the bell rather than at the bottom of the door. A courier photographs the parcel against the door, not the skirting board.
Why not simply a note
A paper note works until it tears off. A laminated card with a code survives, and the code has one advantage over a handwritten line: it can hold all of it in the same small square, including the number you would otherwise have to write out.
The honest alternative to both is the carrier app, which is free, reaches the courier before the door and overrides nothing by accident.
Questions about drop-off codes
Will the courier scan it?
Some will, many will read the printed text instead. Keep the most important instruction visible as text next to the code as well.
Is this an official carrier standard?
No. There is no such standard. The code is a readable note, not an instruction a logistics system processes.
Does it protect me if the parcel disappears?
Not by itself. A drop-off agreement in the carrier app is what defines where a parcel may be left. A printed code is a courtesy, not a contract.
How often should I check it?
Once a year, and whenever a carrier changes. Faded print in a stairwell fails earlier than the ink on the label suggests.