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  1. Products
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  4. Custom nameservers
  5. Zone level

Zone custom nameservers

With zone custom nameservers (ZCNS), each custom nameserver name must be a subdomain of the zone where the custom nameservers are configured.

For example, for a zone domain.test, the ZCNS can be ns1.domain.test and ns2.domain.test but they cannot use a different TLD (ns1.domain.org) nor a different domain (ns1.example.com).

​​ Create zone custom nameservers

​​ Using the dashboard

To add zone custom nameservers to a specific zone:

  1. Log in to the Cloudflare dashboard and select your account and zone.
  2. Go to DNS > Records.
  3. On Custom Nameservers, click Add Custom Nameservers and enter the subdomains used for the ZCNS names (for example, ns1, ns2, ns3).
  4. Cloudflare will assign an IPv4 and an IPv6 address to each ZCNS name and automatically create the associated A or AAAA records (visible after you refresh the page).
  5. The next step depends on whether you are using Cloudflare Registrar for your domain:
    • If you are using Cloudflare Registrar for your domain, no further action is required. Glue records will be added automatically on your behalf.
    • If you are not using Cloudflare Registrar for your domain, add the zone custom nameservers at your registrar as your authoritative nameservers and as glue (A and AAAA) records. If you do not add these records, DNS lookups for your domain will fail.

​​ Using the API

To add zone custom nameservers via the API, use a PATCH request and specify the custom nameservers in the payload:


"vanity_name_servers": ["ns1.example.com","ns2.example.com"]

​​ For incoming zone transfers (Secondary DNS)

If you are using Cloudflare as a secondary DNS provider, you can still set up zone custom nameservers. After steps 1-3 above or after using the API, you need to do the following:

  1. Get the ZCNS IPs. You can see them on the dashboard (DNS > Records) or you can use the API to get the vanity_name_servers_ips.
  2. At your primary DNS provider, add NS records and, on the subdomains that you used as ZCNS names, add A/AAAA records.
  3. At your registrar, add the zone custom nameservers as your authoritative nameservers and as glue (A and AAAA) records.

​​ Remove zone custom nameservers

​​ Using the dashboard

To remove zone custom nameservers (and their associated, read-only DNS records) using the dashboard:

  1. Log in to the Cloudflare dashboard and select your account and zone.
  2. Go to DNS > Records.
  3. On Custom Nameservers, click Remove Custom Nameservers.
  4. Cloudflare will remove your ZCNS and their associated read-only A or AAAA records.

​​ Using the API

To remove zone custom nameservers (and their associated, read-only DNS records) via the API, use a PATCH request and include an empty array in the payload:


"vanity_name_servers": []