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Child nameservers

Nameservers on your domain, that the internet can find.

If you use nameservers on your own domain, the registry needs their IP addresses. These are glue records, and you register them here.

Setting it up

How glue works

Without glue, resolution fails. With glue, it succeeds.

A single registry record determines whether your domain resolves. It breaks the circular dependency.

No glue record

The registry says "ask ns1.mybrand.com". The resolver must look up mybrand.com to find the nameserver, but it needs the nameserver to look up mybrand.com. The lookup fails.

mybrand.com ns1.mybrand.com asks for itself, forever
With a glue record

The registry provides the nameserver IP address alongside the delegation. The resolver has the address immediately and the lookup succeeds.

mybrand.com ns1 · 203.0.113.10 the address comes with the answer

What a glue record is

A glue record contains a hostname and its IP address. The registry stores this record.

  • Register as many records as you need. Two is standard.
  • Update an IP address without deleting the host.
  • Rename a host while keeping its current IP address.
  • Refresh the list from the registry at any time.
child-nameservers
Hostname A name under this domain, like ns1.mybrand.com. You cannot use a hostname on another domain.
IP address The server IP address. The registry provides this address with the delegation.
Storage location The registry stores glue records. They do not live in your DNS zone.
When to use it Only when your domain uses nameservers located on the domain itself.
When to skip it If you use our nameservers, or any external provider, you do not need glue records.

How we save changes

We send changes to the registrar and then read them back. A false success message causes debugging problems, so we verify every change.

  1. We send the change

    We send your addition, edit, or deletion to the registrar immediately.

  2. We read it back

    We ask the registrar for the current record instead of trusting its success message.

  3. We store the result

    We only save the change if the registrar confirms it. The console always shows the real registry data.

A glue record is not a DNS record. Deleting an A record in your zone does not remove the glue. Removing the glue does not remove the A record. They are separate.

Common questions

Do I need child nameservers?

Only if your nameservers share the same domain name. If you use external nameservers, you do not need this.

Why use your own nameservers?

Companies use them for branding, or because they manage their own DNS infrastructure.

Can I delete a glue record while using it?

The registry will refuse the deletion. Change your nameserver delegation first, then delete the glue.

Do all extensions support child nameservers?

Most do. Some country extensions have specific rules. The registry enforces these rules and the console shows any errors.

How do I change a nameserver IP address?

Edit the existing host record. Do not delete and recreate it, as this causes downtime.

Use your own names

Register your domain here and manage your glue records directly.