NS record explained: your domain's nameservers

An NS record (name server record) sets which nameservers are responsible for your domain. It tells the rest of the internet where the official DNS data for your domain lives. Once you understand how the NS record works, you know exactly what happens when you move to a different hosting or DNS provider, or hand a subdomain over to someone else. This article explains what an NS record is, where it lives, and how to change it safely.

What is an NS record?

NS stands for name server. The NS record is one of the oldest and most important DNS record types, known technically as type 2 and defined in RFC 1035. It points to the hostname of a nameserver, such as ns1.ljpc.network, and effectively says: ask this server for this domain's DNS data.

An NS record always points to a hostname, never directly to an IP address. A resolver (the DNS server that does the lookups on a visitor's behalf) then finds that nameserver's own IP address through its A or AAAA records.

A nameserver is the server that holds and serves a domain's DNS records, such as your A record, MX record, and TXT records. The NS record decides which nameservers are allowed to do that for your domain.

Where NS records live: at the registry and in your own zone

NS records appear in two places, and that distinction is at the heart of how delegation works. Delegation means that responsibility for a domain is handed to a set of nameservers.

The delegation at the registry

At the top sits the registry: the organization that runs your domain's extension. For .nl that is SIDN. The zone for that extension holds NS records that point to your nameservers. This is the delegation: the registry hands responsibility for your domain over to your nameservers.

In practice, these NS records decide where the entire world asks for your DNS. You set them through your registrar, in the field usually labeled simply nameservers. Technically these records are not authoritative; they only point to the real source.

The NS records in your own zone

Inside your own DNS zone, at the main domain (the apex), there is a second set of NS records. These are the authoritative NS records: your nameservers confirm for themselves that they are responsible. Most providers add these records automatically, and you usually cannot delete them.

What matters is that both sets agree. If the NS records at the registry point to different servers than the NS records in your zone, you get confusing errors and your domain can become unreliable.

How a domain finds its nameservers

When someone visits your website or sends you email, a resolver runs a short search:

1. First the resolver asks the root servers. They refer it to the nameservers for the right extension, such as .nl.
2. The nameservers for that extension use their NS records to say which nameservers are responsible for your domain.
3. The resolver then asks one of your nameservers and gets the real answer there, such as the IP address from your A record.

This chain of referrals is delegation in action. At every step, the NS record is the signpost to the next stop.

Switching nameservers: moving to another provider

If you want to host your DNS somewhere else, for example because you are moving to a new hosting plan, you change the nameservers at your registrar. Work carefully and in the right order so your domain stays reachable:

1. First prepare the complete DNS zone at the new provider. Copy over all of your records (A, AAAA, MX, TXT, and the rest) exactly.
2. Check that the new nameservers already answer for your domain correctly, even though the delegation has not switched yet.
3. Only then change the nameservers at your registrar to the new provider's. With LJPc hosting these are ns1.ljpc.network through ns4.ljpc.network.
4. Keep in mind that the change is not visible everywhere at once. Because of the TTL (the time that data is cached) at the extension, it can take up to 48 hours before everyone uses your new nameservers.

Remove the old zone only when you are sure all traffic runs through the new nameservers.

Delegating a subdomain with NS records

You can also use NS records to hand part of your domain to another party or a separate DNS environment. This is called subdomain delegation.

Say status.example.com is run by an external status page. In the zone for example.com you add an NS record for status that points to that service's nameservers. From that point on, that external environment is authoritative for everything under status.example.com, while you keep managing the rest of the domain yourself.

Use subdomain delegation only when you really need it. For an ordinary pointer to an external service, a CNAME record or A record is usually enough.

Glue records and your own nameservers

Sometimes a domain's nameservers sit under that same domain. For example, the nameservers for example.com are called ns1.example.com and ns2.example.com. That creates a chicken-and-egg problem: to look up example.com you need its nameservers, but those live under example.com themselves.

The system solves this with glue records. These are A or AAAA records that the registry supplies alongside the delegation, so a resolver can still find the IP address of those nameservers. You set glue records at your registrar, often under a heading like private nameservers or glue records.

If you use your hosting provider's nameservers, such as ns1.ljpc.network, you do not need to worry about this. The glue records are already handled by that provider.

Checking NS records

You can look up which nameservers are set for a domain yourself. On macOS or Linux, use dig:

dig NS example.com +short

On Windows, nslookup does the job:

nslookup -type=NS example.com

To see what the extension passes on through the delegation, rather than what your own zone says, use dig with the +trace option. It follows the whole chain from the root servers down to your domain:

dig +trace NS example.com

If the nameservers from both sources match, your delegation is in order.

Common problems

The NS record is the signpost for your domain: it sets which nameservers do the work and keeps migrations and delegations running smoothly. Still stuck? Contact support and we will be happy to help.