Pointing your domain at your hosting

Registering a domain and buying hosting are two separate things. To make your domain show your website, you need to tell the internet where your hosting lives. There are two ways to do it, and this guide explains both, plus how to point a subdomain at a VPS or game server.

What is DNS?

DNS is the internet's address book. When someone types your domain, their device asks DNS which server to connect to. Your domain's DNS is made up of records, each answering one question, such as where the website is or where email should be delivered.

The DNS records you will meet

• A record: points a name at an IPv4 address, such as your hosting or VPS.
• AAAA record: the same, but for an IPv6 address.
• CNAME record: points one name at another name, for example www at yourdomain.com.
• MX record: tells the world which server receives email for your domain.
• TXT record: holds text, used for things like email authentication (SPF and DKIM) and proving you own the domain.
• SRV record: points a service at a specific server and port. Minecraft uses these so players do not need to type a port.

Option 1: change your nameservers

Nameservers decide who is in charge of your domain's DNS. Pointing them at your hosting hands all of the DNS over to your hosting account, so your website, email and SSL are set up for you and managed from cPanel or DirectAdmin.

This is the easiest option for most people, and the one we recommend for web hosting. The nameservers to use are shown in your client area and in your hosting welcome email.

Option 2: add an A record

An A record points one name, such as yourdomain.com or play.yourdomain.com, at one IP address. Everything else in your DNS stays where it is. Use this when you want to keep your DNS where it is, for example because your email is with another provider, or when you are pointing a subdomain at a VPS or game server.

The IP address to use is shown in your client area, your welcome email, or at the top of your game panel. For a website, add an A record for the main domain, usually shown as @, and another for www.

Which option should I choose?

• Website and email both with our web hosting: change your nameservers.
• Website with us, email with another provider: add A records, or change nameservers and copy your email's MX and TXT records across.
• Pointing at a VPS or dedicated server: A records, from wherever your DNS is managed.
• Pointing a subdomain at a game server: an A record, plus an SRV record for Minecraft.

Where to change them

1. 1Log into the client area at clients.simplisticnode.com.
2. 2Go to your domains and choose Manage next to the domain.
3. 3To change nameservers, open the Nameservers option, choose to use custom nameservers, enter the ones from your welcome email and save.
4. 4To add an A record instead, open the DNS management option, add a record of type A with the name and IP address, and save.

If your domain is registered somewhere else, the same settings live in that registrar's dashboard. Look for Nameservers or DNS.

Pointing a domain at a game server

A subdomain such as play.yourdomain.com is much easier to share than an IP address. Add an A record named play pointing at your game server's IP, which is shown at the top of our game panel.

If your Minecraft server does not use the default port 25565, also add an SRV record so players can connect without typing the port. Use the service _minecraft, protocol _tcp, name play, and point it at play.yourdomain.com with your server's port. Other games, such as FiveM and BeamMP, still need players to include the port, so share the full address with the port on the end.

Using Cloudflare?

If your DNS is on Cloudflare, make changes there rather than at your registrar. Records for game servers, SSH and anything that is not a website must be set to DNS only (the grey cloud), because Cloudflare's proxy only handles web traffic. For websites behind the orange cloud, set Cloudflare's SSL mode to Full, so it works with the free SSL on your hosting without redirect loops.

Waiting for it to update

DNS changes are not instant. Internet providers keep a copy of your old settings for a while, so it can take up to 24 to 48 hours for everyone to see the change, although it is often much quicker. During that time some people may see the old site and some the new one, which is completely normal.

Each record has a TTL, or time to live, which is how long it can be cached. Planning a move? Lower the TTL to a few minutes a day beforehand, and the switch will reach everyone much faster. Nameserver changes are slower and cannot be sped up this way.

Checking it worked

• Visit your domain in a private or incognito window, so your browser is not showing a saved copy.
• Use a free online DNS propagation checker to see what your domain points to from around the world.
• On your computer, run nslookup yourdomain.com in a terminal or command prompt and check the address matches your hosting.
• Once it points at us, your free SSL is issued automatically and the padlock appears shortly after.

Troubleshooting

• Still seeing your old site: it is usually caching. Try another device or mobile data, and give it more time.
• No padlock or a security warning: the SSL is issued after your domain points at us. Check the SSL section of your control panel, or ask us to take a look.
• Email stopped working after changing nameservers: your email's MX records were not copied across. Add them in your new DNS.
• Domain does not load at all: check for typos in the IP address or nameservers, and that the domain has not expired.

Moving your nameservers also moves your email records. If your email is hosted elsewhere, copy its MX records across first, or use an A record instead. Not sure which to pick? Ask us on live chat or Discord and we will check it for you.