DNS Lookup
Check a domain's authoritative name servers.
Enter a value above to run DNS Lookup
e.g. example.com
Quick answer
A DNS lookup lists the authoritative name servers responsible for a domain. These are the servers that hold the domain's official DNS records and answer queries about it.
DNS Lookup shows the authoritative name servers (NS records) responsible for a domain. These are the servers that hold the master copy of a zone and answer with its A, MX, TXT and other records. Checking them tells you which DNS provider a domain actually uses and whether a registrar or hosting change has fully taken effect. Site owners and administrators use this to confirm delegation, spot leftover name servers after a migration, and troubleshoot why records they edited are not appearing to visitors.
How it works
Every domain is delegated by its parent zone. When you query a domain's NS records, the answer lists the host names of the authoritative servers, for example ns1.example.net and ns2.example.net. The registrar publishes these same values at the top-level domain, and the resolvers of the world follow that delegation to find records. This tool queries the NS record set and returns each name server so you can verify that delegation matches what your provider expects.
How to read the results
You should see two or more name servers, usually from the same provider and often on different networks for redundancy. Confirm every entry belongs to the DNS host you intend to use. If you still see an old provider's servers after switching, the change has not finished propagating or was never saved at the registrar. A single name server, or none at all, signals a misconfiguration that can make the domain unreliable or completely unresolvable.
Why it matters
Name servers are the root of everything else in DNS. If they are wrong, no amount of correct A or MX records will help, because visitors and mail servers never reach them. Confirming NS records is the first step when diagnosing an outage after a migration, verifying a registrar transfer, or handing DNS management to a new provider. It also reveals who ultimately controls a domain's records, which matters for security reviews.
Frequently asked questions
- Why do I still see my old name servers after changing them?
- Name server changes are published at the registrar and cached by resolvers for the length of the delegation's TTL, often 24 to 48 hours. During this window some resolvers return the old values and some the new. Confirm the change was saved at your registrar, then allow full propagation before assuming something is broken.
- How many name servers should a domain have?
- At least two is standard practice, and many registries require it. Multiple name servers, ideally on separate networks, keep a domain resolvable if one server or provider has an outage. Having only one is a single point of failure; if it goes down, your entire domain, including websites and email, becomes unreachable.
- What is the difference between NS records and glue records?
- NS records name the authoritative servers for a domain. Glue records are the actual IP addresses of those servers, stored at the parent zone when the name server is inside the domain it serves, such as ns1.example.com for example.com. Glue prevents a circular lookup. This tool reports the NS names; missing glue is diagnosed separately.