What Is a Nameserver? How to Find and Change Yours

Applies to: any domain name (registrar settings, cPanel hosting, Cloudflare)

A nameserver is the DNS server that holds your domain’s records, such as where the website, email and other services are. When someone visits your site, their computer asks your domain’s nameservers for the answer. You set the nameservers at your domain registrar, and the records themselves live wherever those nameservers are (your host, Cloudflare or the registrar).

Find your domain’s nameservers

dig +short example.com NS
nslookup -type=NS example.com

For example, a domain using Cloudflare returns two names ending in .ns.cloudflare.com.

Nameservers or DNS records: which should I change?

• Change nameservers (at the registrar) when you want a new provider to manage all your DNS, for example when moving everything to your hosting account or to Cloudflare.
• Change DNS records (A, MX, CNAME) where your nameservers are, when you only want to point the website or email somewhere else.

Change nameservers

1. Log in to your domain registrar. For domains registered with Ucartz, open the domain in the client area and choose Nameservers.
2. Replace the nameservers with the ones your new provider gives you (usually two or more).
3. Save. The change usually spreads within a few hours, sometimes up to 48 hours.

Before switching, recreate all existing records (website, email, SPF, DKIM, verification records) at the new provider, or your email and other services stop working during the change.

Check the change

dig +short example.com NS @1.1.1.1

Custom nameservers with your own domain name (ns1.example.com): how to configure custom name servers. More DNS commands: flush your DNS cache.