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SOA Record Lookup
Every DNS zone has exactly one SOA record. It names the primary nameserver and the zone's administrator, and carries the serial number and timers that secondary servers and resolvers follow.
About SOA records
What the answer tells you
- The value reads: primary nameserver, contact mailbox (with its first dot standing for @), serial, refresh, retry, expire and minimum TTL.
- The serial increases with every change. Comparing it across servers shows whether they all serve the same version of the zone.
- The last number is how long a resolver caches a "no such record" answer — the reason a record you just added can stay invisible for a while.
example.com. 3600 IN SOA ns1.example.net. hostmaster.example.com. 2026102501 7200 3600 1209600 300
Record types
Look up any record type
Each type has a page of its own, explaining what the record does and what to look for in the answer.
- AA Record LookupIPv4 address
- AAAAAAAA Record LookupIPv6 address
- CNAMECNAME LookupAlias
- MXMX LookupMail servers
- TXTTXT Record LookupText, SPF and DMARC
- NSNS LookupNameservers
- SOASOA Record LookupZone authority
- CAACAA Record LookupCertificate authorities
- SRVSRV Record LookupService locations
- PTRReverse DNS LookupReverse DNS (PTR)
Questions
Frequently asked questions
- Why does a new record not show up although I published it?
- Someone probably looked it up before it existed, and the resolver cached that negative answer for the SOA's minimum TTL. Wait that long, or check the authoritative column, which never answers from a cache.
- What does the serial number mean?
- It is a version number for the zone. Many providers use the date followed by a counter, such as 2026102501; others count up or use a timestamp. Only that it increases matters.
- What is DNS propagation?
- DNS does not push changes out. Each resolver keeps an answer for its TTL and only asks again once that runs out, so after a change different resolvers return old and new answers for a while. When every column here agrees with the authoritative one, the change has reached them.
- What does the authoritative column show?
- The answer from one of the domain's own nameservers, which never comes from a cache. It shows what the zone says right now; the resolver columns show what the internet has cached.