http://wiki.emule-web.de/index.php/Require_obfuscated_server_connection
note, aMule 2.*.* currently has the "Official behaviour"
i think basically it gets info from the severs first (initial ping), before connecting, to see if it has obfuscation support, if it doesn't it won't connect.
this feature is very useful, because if you get disconnected you know that it will only reconnect at obfuscation level (as opposed to now, it has to connect first at normal level to see if it supports the obfuscation.)