Name Server Record (NS)
Delegates a DNS zone to one or more authoritative name servers.
Standards: RFC 1035
What is a DNS NS record?
NS (Name Server) records delegate authority for a DNS zone to specific name servers. When a resolver queries for any record under example.com, the root DNS servers return the NS records pointing to example.com's authoritative name servers (e.g. ns1.registrar.com). The resolver then queries those name servers directly. A domain must have at least two NS records for redundancy. They are managed at your domain registrar and published at both the parent zone (via the registrar's glue records) and within the zone itself. Glue records are A/AAAA records for NS hostnames that are within the zone they serve — e.g. if ns1.example.com serves example.com, the parent zone needs a glue A record so the NS can be resolved without a chicken-and-egg problem.
Record Structure
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The zone name, e.g. example.com |
| TTL | Set by the parent zone; typically 86400–172800 |
| Class | IN |
| Type | NS |
| NSDNAME | FQDN of the authoritative name server, e.g. ns1.example.com. |
Examples
example.com. 86400 IN NS ns1.registrar.com. example.com. 86400 IN NS ns2.registrar.com.
sub.example.com. 86400 IN NS ns1.sub-provider.com.
Common Issues & Fixes
NS records out of sync between registrar and zone
If registrar NS records differ from the zone NS records, resolvers may see inconsistent results.
✓ Fix: Log in to your registrar and confirm the NS records match those in your DNS zone.
DNS propagation delay after NS change
Changing name servers can take up to 48 hours to propagate worldwide due to TTL caching.
✓ Fix: Lower the TTL of your NS records 24–48 hours before the planned change. Use the DNS Propagation Checker to monitor progress.