Minecraft custom domain: DNS and SRV records

Collect the correct values

You need access to the authoritative DNS zone, the destination’s public address and the Java port assigned by the provider. Editing an inactive zone at a previous registrar will not change the live answer.

In this example, players enter play.example.com, the machine is named node.example.com and the game port is 25580. These are examples; substitute your actual domain and allocation. Panel credentials do not belong in DNS records.

Create the A and SRV records

Create an A record named node pointing to the server’s public IPv4 address. With Cloudflare DNS, keep it DNS-only: the standard web proxy does not automatically carry Minecraft traffic.

Create the SRV record using these values:

Name: _minecraft._tcp.play.example.com
Priority: 0
Weight: 0
Port: 25580
Target: node.example.com

The target must be a resolvable hostname, not a URL, an address starting with https://, or a hostname containing :25580. Some interfaces split service, protocol and name into separate fields. Their combined result should match the full example. Add an AAAA record only when the server is actually reachable over IPv6.

Check resolution before testing in-game

From a terminal with the appropriate tools:

nslookup node.example.com
nslookup -type=SRV _minecraft._tcp.play.example.com

Check the address, target and port. DNS caches may retain older answers until their lifetime expires. Then enter play.example.com in Minecraft Java without an explicit port to test SRV lookup.

Keep IP:PORT as a temporary fallback. If it works while the name fails, investigate the active zone, full SRV name, target and any proxy setting. A correct DNS answer still does not prove that the game port is open.

Bedrock and console limitations

Do not assume Java SRV behaviour applies to Bedrock. Give Bedrock players the address and port supported by their device’s connection method. With Geyser, the Bedrock endpoint uses a separate UDP allocation.

A provider-supplied subdomain may be sufficient for a small group. Your own domain becomes useful when you want to keep the public address while changing the underlying server through a DNS update.

Frequently asked questions