# DNS record types

> The record types a Coritan DNS zone accepts, the content each one takes and the rules the API checks.

Source: https://docs.coritan.com/websites/dns/record-types/

Every record has a name, a type, content and a TTL. The **DNS** tab's **Type** list offers the first nine types below. The API also accepts `PTR`, `SVCB` and `HTTPS`.

## Types

| Type | Content | Other fields | Example content |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `A` | An IPv4 address | Can be proxied | `203.0.113.10` |
| `AAAA` | An IPv6 address | Can be proxied | `2001:db8::10` |
| `CNAME` | The hostname this name is an alias of | None | `app.example.net` |
| `MX` | The hostname of a mail server | Priority | `mail.example.com` |
| `TXT` | Text, up to 2,048 characters | None | `v=spf1 include:_spf.example.com ~all` |
| `SRV` | The hostname of the server that offers the service | Priority, weight and port | `play.example.com` |
| `NS` | The hostname of a nameserver | None | `ns1.example.net` |
| `CAA` | `<flags> <tag> "<value>"` | None | `0 issue "letsencrypt.org"` |
| `DS` | `<key tag> <algorithm> <digest type> <digest>` | None | `2371 13 2 1F987CC6583E92DF0890718C42…` |
| `PTR` | A hostname (API only) | None | `host.example.com` |
| `SVCB` | `<priority> <target> [key=value ...]` (API only) | None | `1 . alpn="h3,h2"` |
| `HTTPS` | `<priority> <target> [key=value ...]` (API only) | None | `1 . alpn="h3,h2"` |

## Rules for every record

Name
: Relative to the zone, up to 253 characters: `@` for the domain itself, `www` for `www.example.com`, `*` for any name without records of its own. Coritan lowercases it.

TTL
: From 60 to 86,400 seconds. The API uses 300 when you leave it out.

Hostnames in content
: For `CNAME`, `MX`, `NS`, `SRV` and `PTR`, Coritan lowercases the hostname and drops a trailing dot. Each label takes letters, digits, underscores and hyphens.

Priority, weight and port
: Whole numbers from 0 to 65,535. `MX` needs a priority. `SRV` needs all three.

Comment
: Optional text that only you see. It is not published in DNS.

## Rules for some types

`A` and `AAAA`
: Only these two can be proxied. A proxied record must point at a public address ([Proxied records](/websites/dns/#proxied-records)).

`CNAME`
: Not at `@`, and never beside another record of any type at the same name.

`TXT`
: Type the text as it is; surrounding quotes are optional. Coritan splits text longer than 255 characters into the strings DNS carries.

`SRV`
: Put the service and protocol in the name, such as `_minecraft._tcp`, and the target hostname in the content.

`NS`
: At a name other than `@`, an `NS` record hands that name to other nameservers. The two or more `NS` records at `@` are the zone's own, and the zone keeps at least two.

`CAA`
: Lists the certificate authorities that may issue certificates for the name. Coritan requests certificates from Let's Encrypt and falls back to ZeroSSL and Google Trust Services. If you publish `CAA` records for a name that Coritan secures, add an `issue` record for each of `letsencrypt.org`, `sectigo.com` and `pki.goog` ([How SSL/TLS certificates work](/websites/ssl/)).

`DS`
: Only at a delegated name, never at `@`. The digest is hexadecimal: 40 characters for digest type 1, 64 for types 2 and 3, and 96 for type 4.

`SVCB` and `HTTPS`
: Coritan checks the content with a DNS parser and refuses what it cannot read, with an example of the format in the error.

## Names a load balancer owns

A name that a [load balancer](/websites/load-balancing/) answers for takes no `A`, `AAAA` or `CNAME` records of its own. Change the load balancer instead, or delete it to manage the name with records again.

## Related

- [Add, edit and delete DNS records](/websites/dns/manage-dns-records/)
- [How DNS hosting works](/websites/dns/)