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DNS Lookup

Check what the internet sees for your domain before and after you move it to a server: A and AAAA addresses, mail, nameservers, TXT and CAA records with their TTLs, or the reverse DNS of a server IP.

DNS RECORDS

Look up a domain or IP

dig
Enter a public name such as example.com or _dmarc.example.com. Enter a public IPv4 or IPv6 address to check its reverse DNS (PTR).
Ignored for an IP address, which always gets a PTR lookup.
Compare all four to see whether a recent change has spread.

The lookup runs on the VPSLake server. The name is sent to the public resolver you pick and the answer comes straight back to you. The tool does not save what you look up.

HOW TO USE IT

Check DNS in four steps

Handy right after you buy a server, move a site, or set up mail on a VPS. No terminal or account needed.

  1. 1

    Enter a name or an IP

    Type the domain (example.com), a subdomain (app.example.com), or your server's public IP to read its PTR record.

  2. 2

    Pick the record type and resolver

    Leave All common records for a full picture, or choose one type. Select Compare all four to put Google, Cloudflare, Quad9 and OpenDNS side by side.

  3. 3

    Read the answer and TTL

    Each record shows its value and how many seconds resolvers may cache it. NXDOMAIN, SERVFAIL and timeouts are explained in plain words.

  4. 4

    Fix and check again

    If an address is wrong, change it at your DNS host, wait out the old TTL, then compare resolvers until they all show the new value.

Pointing a domain at your VPS

DNS for your domain is managed wherever its nameservers point: your registrar, Cloudflare, or another DNS host. Your VPS does not answer DNS for you unless you run a DNS server on it.

  • Add an A record for @ with the server's IPv4 address.
  • Add an A record (or a CNAME to the bare domain) for www.
  • Add an AAAA record only if the server really has a working IPv6 address.
  • Look the name up here and confirm the NS records belong to the DNS host you edited.

Reverse DNS (PTR) for a server IP

A PTR record maps an IP address back to a host name, such as mail.example.com. Mail servers check it before accepting messages, and it makes logs and traceroutes easier to read.

Reverse DNS is controlled by whoever owns the IP block, which is your server provider, not your domain's DNS host. Enter the IP here: the tool shows the PTR name and checks whether that name resolves back to the same IP (forward-confirmed reverse DNS).

What each record type does

A and AAAA hold the IPv4 and IPv6 address. CNAME makes one name an alias of another. MX lists the mail servers, lowest number first. NS names the servers in charge of the zone, and SOA holds its serial and timers.

TXT carries SPF, DKIM, DMARC and site-verification strings. CAA limits which certificate authorities may issue certificates; if you add one, include letsencrypt.org before running certbot.

Propagation and TTL

DNS changes do not travel; caches expire. Each resolver keeps the old answer until its TTL runs out, then asks again. A record with a TTL of 3600 can take up to an hour to change everywhere.

Planning a server move? Lower the TTL to 300 a day before, switch the A record, then raise it again once every resolver shows the new address. Nameserver changes are slower because the registry's own records are cached for up to two days.

What this lookup cannot tell you

The tool asks public recursive resolvers, so it shows what most visitors see, including any stale cache. It does not query your DNS host's own servers directly, does not validate DNSSEC for you, and cannot list every record in a zone; it only answers for the exact name and type you ask about. Your own computer or office network may also use a different resolver with its own cache.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

DNS Lookup FAQ

Resolvers that looked the name up before your change keep the old answer until its TTL expires. Use Compare all four: once every resolver returns the new IP, most of the internet does too. If none of them change after the old TTL has passed, check the NS records; you may have edited DNS at a provider the domain no longer uses.
Type the server's public IP address instead of a domain. The tool runs a PTR lookup, then looks up the returned host name to confirm it points back to the same IP. If the PTR is missing or generic, ask the provider that owns the IP to set it; it cannot be changed from your domain's DNS panel.
Choose TXT. SPF lives on the bare domain (example.com), DMARC on _dmarc.example.com, and DKIM on selector._domainkey.example.com, where the selector is set by your mail software or provider. Long TXT values split into several quoted strings are joined into one, the way mail servers read them.
NXDOMAIN means the name does not exist: a typo, an expired domain, or a subdomain that was never created. SERVFAIL means the resolver could not get any answer, usually because the domain's nameservers are down, are not set up for the domain, or DNSSEC is misconfigured. "No record of this type" with NOERROR means the name exists but has nothing of the type you asked for.
Yes. The server runs dig against the resolver you choose, the same as dig @1.1.1.1 example.com MX on your own machine, and shows the TTL that nslookup hides by default. It is useful when you are on a phone, or your local network uses a resolver that has cached an old answer.
Only if your server has a working public IPv6 address and the web server listens on it. An AAAA record that points to an address the server does not answer on makes the site fail for visitors on IPv6 networks, and can make Let's Encrypt validation fail, so remove it if you are not using IPv6.
The tool does not save the names you look up. Each visitor can run about twenty lookups a minute; checking all record types or comparing resolvers counts as two. Private and reserved IP addresses and local names such as localhost are rejected because they have no public DNS.