NS records

This guide explains what NS records do, how they differ from nameserver changes made at the registrar, and why you should not edit them casually.

An NS record lists the nameservers that hold the DNS records for a zone. The top-level answer comes from the domain's registration. The zone's own NS records must match the nameservers that are actually authoritative for the domain.

Example, using a reserved documentation name:

example.com.   NS   ns1.example.net.
example.com.   NS   ns2.example.net.

Two rules matter for customers:

• Changing nameservers means telling the domain's registration where DNS is managed now. Use Change nameservers for this, in the place the Client Area shows.
• NS records in a zone must agree with those nameservers. If they disagree, lookups can fail or return inconsistent answers.

Do not add or remove NS records to fix a single website or email problem. Most of those problems are caused by a missing A, MX or TXT record.

Related articles

• Change nameservers
• Find your DNS provider
• DNS record types
• Nameserver changes not working

Last reviewed

2026-10-27