{"id":3285,"date":"2022-02-24T09:22:24","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T09:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wpx.net\/kb\/?post_type=ht_kb&#038;p=3285"},"modified":"2025-03-31T10:28:26","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T10:28:26","slug":"what-is-an-active-dns-zone","status":"publish","type":"ht_kb","link":"https:\/\/wpx.net\/kb\/what-is-an-active-dns-zone\/","title":{"rendered":"What is an active DNS zone?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In this article, we\u2019ll keep things simple and explain what an active DNS zone is and how it affects your domain name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>There are two main ways to point your domain name to your hosting plan:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Using A records;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Using NS (Nameserver) records.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Both methods will point your domain to the correct hosting server, but there\u2019s an important difference between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find more details on how to point your domain name to WPX <a href=\"https:\/\/wpx.net\/kb\/how-can-i-point-my-domain-to-wpx\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The key difference between A Records and NS Records<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>active DNS zone<\/strong> is determined by your domain\u2019s <strong>NS (Nameserver) records<\/strong>. When you register a domain, the default nameservers usually point to your domain registrar, which means the DNS zone is managed there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, if you update the <strong>NS records<\/strong> to point to your hosting provider (like WPX), the active DNS zone moves to that provider instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Summary:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>A records<\/strong> only point your domain to a specific server IP but <em>don\u2019t<\/em> change where the DNS zone is managed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>NS records<\/strong> define which provider manages your DNS zone\u2014so changing them <em>does<\/em> change the active DNS zone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does an active DNS zone mean?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ve mentioned that the active DNS zone changes when you update your NS records\u2014but what exactly does that mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>active DNS zone<\/strong> is where you manage all DNS records for your domain, such as <strong>MX<\/strong>, <strong>TXT<\/strong>, or <strong>CNAME<\/strong> records. Any changes made in this zone are applied globally and affect how your domain works across different services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if you want to use a mail service, you\u2019ll need to add <strong>MX records<\/strong> to your active DNS zone. If they\u2019re added elsewhere (in an inactive zone), the changes won\u2019t work\u2014your mail service won\u2019t function correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-ht-blocks-messages wp-block-hb-message wp-block-hb-message--withicon is-style-info\">Many customers use <strong>Cloudflare<\/strong>, which requires updating your NS records to point to <strong>Cloudflare\u2019s nameservers<\/strong>. When you do that, your domain\u2019s <strong>active DNS zone<\/strong> moves to Cloudflare.<br><br>As a result, all DNS changes\u2014like adding or editing records\u2014must be done from your <strong>Cloudflare account<\/strong>. If you make changes elsewhere, they won\u2019t have any effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can check our guide<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/wpx.net\/kb\/how-can-i-add-a-records-to-my-cloudflare-account\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> <\/a><\/strong>on <a href=\"https:\/\/wpx.net\/kb\/how-can-i-add-a-records-to-my-cloudflare-account\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>how to point your website to WPX from Cloudflare<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to check where your domain\u2019s DNS Zone is and what Nameservers it uses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How to check what Nameservers your domain is using:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Use an online <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dnschecker.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DNS tool<\/a><\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Type your domain name (like <em>example.com<\/em>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Look for the <strong>NS (Nameservers)<\/strong> section \u2014 it will show you which service (like Cloudflare, WPX, or your domain registrar) is managing your DNS.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How to know where your DNS zone is:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>DNS zone<\/strong> is located wherever your <strong>Nameservers<\/strong> are pointing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If the nameservers are something like <code><em>ns1.wpx.net<\/em><\/code> \u2014 the DNS zone is managed at WPX.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If they\u2019re like <code><em><code>example<\/code>.ns.cloudflare.com<\/em><\/code> \u2014 the DNS zone is with Cloudflare.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If they\u2019re something like <code><em>ns.yourregistrar.com<\/em><\/code> \u2014 the DNS zone is managed by your <strong>domain registrar<\/strong> or possibly <strong>another hosting provider<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Have more questions? Contact the WPX Support Team through the live chat widget in the bottom-right corner, and they\u2019ll assist you promptly, typically within 30 seconds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this article, we\u2019ll keep things simple and explain what an active DNS zone is and how it affects your domain name. There are two main ways to point your domain name to your hosting plan: Both methods will point your domain to the correct hosting server, but there\u2019s an&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":1,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"ht-kb-category":[68],"ht-kb-tag":[],"class_list":["post-3285","ht_kb","type-ht_kb","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","ht_kb_category-dns-management"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpx.net\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/3285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpx.net\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpx.net\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ht_kb"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpx.net\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpx.net\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3285"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/wpx.net\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/3285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11120,"href":"https:\/\/wpx.net\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/3285\/revisions\/11120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpx.net\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ht_kb_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpx.net\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb-category?post=3285"},{"taxonomy":"ht_kb_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpx.net\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb-tag?post=3285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}