Glue records (also known as private name servers) are a type of DNS record used to set the authoritative name servers of a domain as subdomains of that same domain. Most domains don’t require glue records, but the option is available for those with advanced domain needs.
Glue records are similar to A records, but with the IP address of the name servers. They are necessary when you want to set name servers on a subdomain of the root domain.
For example, if your domain is yourgroovydomain.com, its name servers might be ns[1-3].. Without glue records, trying to resolve the IP address of the root domain (yourgroovydomain.comyourgroovydomain.comns1.) is in a subdomain of the root domain itself. With glue records, the name servers will have their own IP address, avoiding that circular dependency.yourgroovydomain.com
Glue records are available for most domains registered with WordPress.com.
To add a glue record to your domain:
- Visit your site’s dashboard.
- Navigate to Upgrades → Domains (or Hosting → Domains if using WP-Admin).
- Click on the name of the domain to which you want to add a glue record.
- On the domain’s management page, expand the card labelled “Glue Records.”
- In the “Name server” field, enter the subdomain name (such as
ns1) for the glue record. - In the “IP address” field, enter the glue record’s numeric IP address, such as
123.45.78.9. - Click the button labelled “Save.”
You can add more than one glue record to your domain by clicking the “+ Add Glue Record” link which will appear after you’ve added the first glue record. This will take you through the same process as above.
You can remove a glue record from your domain by clicking the button labelled “Remove” to the right of the glue record listing.
