By default, DMs from accounts you don't follow are hidden away in the filtered/requests tab (unless disabled)
I mean it's kind of nice that Pixelfed doesn't have push notifications and has privacy filters like this so you're not subjected to abuse/spam so easily as compared to other platforms but on the other hand you have to remember to check these every so often 😅
@dansup that would be an interesting feature for every notification.
You pick a choice: receive all notifications by default, or only those from "selected" people (mutuals) and expose your attention to other people notifications if/when you want to.