Nameservers

On the DNS Management page, you can change the nameservers to which your domain name is pointing online. Nameservers consist of valid DNS servers, and this information is provided by your hosting company or service provider that will host your domain name.

Normally, the hosting provider asks you to point a domain name to their servers by giving you the correct nameservers or also called Domain Name Servers (DNS). For simplicity reasons and to avoid confusing it with DNS zones, we call them in the documentation nameservers. The nameservers are the servers that resolve a domain name on the Internet to a specific IP address.

Those are not just any servers, but servers running a Domain Name System (DNS), which is a service that resolves names to network IP addresses. Therefore, a domain name has to point to valid nameservers running a DNS service that will resolve the domain name to an IP number. 

Your domain also has to be activated by the provider or administrator on their side to work. If your domain is using invalid settings or is not properly configured on the DNS servers of a provider, your domain will not work. A domain not resolving to a valid IP address will therefor be offline. You can point your domain name in Netz0 to any DNS servers you like, as long as they are valid and working.

You have two main options with your domain on Netz0. Using our provided premium redundant DNS services, which is a free hosted DNS platform provided with every new domain registration, or entering nameservers provided by your existing provider.

Default Nameservers

The default nameservers configured for new registrations or domain names that use services from Netz0 are the following:

• ns1.netz0.net
• ns2.netz0.net
• ns3.netz0.net

Current Nameservers

This section displays the current nameservers your domain is currently using, which by default will be our nameservers or the nameservers from a third party if you changed them. The existing configuration will show the servers as Saved Nameservers. The Active Nameservers display the nameservers the domain is currently resolving.

Since DNS changes are not immediately propagated on the Internet, you might see different servers on the Saved Nameservers and the Active Nameservers if you made changes recently. Otherwise, both columns should show similar servers, since the saved configuration should match the active one. The order of the servers is not relevant, as DNS queries for domains resolve randomly.

Changing Nameservers

Default Nameservers

If you are using our provided DNS servers or hosting services from us, you can automatically configure any domain by choosing the option Default nameservers. This setting points your domain name automatically to Netz0’s default nameservers. You should use this setting if the domain will be hosted by us, or you will use any services provided by Netz0, this includes free domain services like parking page, DNS hosting or URL redirection. Any services provided by our network require the default nameservers.

When to use:

• If you don’t have valid nameservers or a DNS service.
• If you want to point to an IP address directly by using our DNS service.
• You would like to redirect the domain to another page.
• You don’t have hosting or a server and want to start using it right away.
• If you are hosting your email or website with us.
• Just registered the domain name, but will host it in the future.
• If you are using any service provided by our network.

Custom Nameservers

You can switch a domain name to any nameservers on the Internet. Normally, this information will be provided by your existing provider. You should use this option if you will use an external DNS service or will point the domain name to another provider & company. The domain must also be activated on their side to work. You can point a domain name to any services before this activation takes place, but it will only start working when the administrator has set up the domain on their end. A domain name requires a minimum of two (2) nameservers for redundancy. If you were supplied with more than one, enter all of them in the form fields.

After entering all nameservers in the form fields, click the button Update Nameservers to apply and save the changes.

When to use:

• If you are hosting the domain on a server you own and manage.
• If you are hosting the domain in another hosting or cloud provider.
• You are using the domain in another service that is not Netz0.
• If you are using an external DNS service to resolve domain names.

Your DNS nameserver configuration is now sent immediately to the domain registrar, and your domain name should be pointing in a few minutes to the provided servers. Those server names will now appear under the Saved Nameservers column and under the Active Nameservers column once detected.

It is worth mentioning that DNS propagation takes between 24–48 hours worldwide. Changes are not instantly visible. This is not related to Netz0 and is true for every DNS change on any domain name on the Internet. After a DNS change, you should wait at least a few 24 hours to see a domain name pointing to the new servers. This is called DNS propagation.