Update your domain and SRV record after moving
Moving a server gives it a new IP and a new port, so your custom domain stops working until you repoint it. This covers the A record and SRV record pair, TTL and propagation, and how to switch without a gap for your players.
6 min read · Updated Oct 21, 2026 · By GuavaHost Team
A custom domain is the one part of a migration that does not move with your files. Your world, plugins and settings get copied, but play.yourdomain.com still points at the machine you left, and it keeps pointing there until you change it at your DNS host.
What actually changes
A move, whether to a new host or a new location, puts your server on a different machine. That means:
- A new IP address. The A record (the DNS entry that maps a name to an IP) has to be updated.
- A new port. This is the part people miss. Ports are per machine, so yours almost always changes too, and the SRV record that hides the port from players has to change with it.
- The old address stops working. There is no forwarding. Anyone using a saved server entry with the old IP gets a connection refused.
Find the new pair at the top of your server page, or in the Ports & network card on the server's Overview. Find your server IP and port shows exactly where.
Do this before you move: drop the TTL
TTL (time to live) is how long the rest of the internet may remember a DNS answer before asking again. If your records are on a 24 hour TTL and you edit them today, some players will still be sent to the old IP tomorrow. So lower it first, a day or two before the move:
- Open your DNS host (Cloudflare, Namecheap, GoDaddy, wherever the records live, not the GuavaHost panel).
- Set the TTL on your A and SRV records to the lowest value offered, usually 300 seconds (5 minutes) or Auto.
- Save, then leave it alone for at least as long as the old TTL was. That is what flushes the long cached answer out.
The real change then spreads in minutes rather than hours. Once you are settled, put the TTL back up to an hour or more.
If you have already moved without doing this, nothing is broken. Make the edit and give it time; most resolvers catch up well inside a few hours.
Update the records
You need two records working together, as when you first set the domain up. Connect Minecraft with a custom domain and SRV record is the full reference; this is what changes after a move.
The A record, which carries the new IP:
Type: A
Name: play
Value: <your new IP>
TTL: 300
The SRV record, which carries the new port:
Type: SRV
Service: _minecraft
Protocol: _tcp
Name: play
Priority: 0
Weight: 5
Port: <your new port>
Target: play.yourdomain.com
Three things to get right:
- The Port field on the SRV record is the one that has to change. Updating only the A record is the common mistake: the name resolves, players reach the right machine on the wrong port, and it looks like the server is offline.
- The Target points at a hostname that has an A record, not at an IP. If you edited the A record above, the target stays as it was.
- Some DNS hosts want the whole thing in the name field as
_minecraft._tcp.play. Either style is fine, as long as the service and protocol appear once.
On Cloudflare, keep the A record set to DNS only, the grey cloud. The orange proxy only handles web traffic and will not pass a game connection.
Check it from outside
Do not trust the DNS host's own panel. Ask a resolver what it is serving.
On Windows, in Command Prompt:
nslookup -type=SRV _minecraft._tcp.play.yourdomain.com
nslookup play.yourdomain.com
On macOS or Linux:
dig SRV _minecraft._tcp.play.yourdomain.com +short
dig A play.yourdomain.com +short
You want the new port in the SRV answer and the new IP in the A answer. If either still shows the old value, the change has not spread yet, or it was saved on a different record. Repeat the check in a few minutes rather than editing again.
Then join with the bare hostname, no port, from a device that has never connected to the server. Your own machine may be holding a cached answer and will cheerfully lie to you.
Keep both servers alive through the switch
While DNS catches up, some players resolve to the old address and some to the new one. If the old server is off, that first group sees a dead server and assumes you broke something. So overlap deliberately:
- Get the new server fully working and tested on its raw IP and port first.
- Edit the DNS records.
- Leave the old server running, but make it obvious it is the old one. Change its MOTD to something like
We have moved, reconnect to play.yourdomain.com. - Stop it once the DNS checks look right everywhere and nobody is joining it.
- Keep it a few days before cancelling, as What to back up before you move a server suggests.
Done this way, nobody sees a hard failure. The worst case is a player landing on a server that tells them where to go.
Bedrock, proxies and other addresses
Bedrock Edition does not read Java SRV records. On Bedrock, players type the address and the port in separate boxes, so give them the hostname plus the new port, and tell them the port changed. If you run Geyser so Bedrock players can join a Java server, the Bedrock side has its own port to update.
Behind a proxy? If your network runs through Velocity or BungeeCord, the domain points at the proxy, not the individual servers. After moving a backend server you update the proxy config with its new IP and port, and the DNS records stay as they are.
Everywhere else the address lives. The domain fixes most of it, but check:
- Your Discord channel topic, pinned messages and any bot posting server status.
- Public server list entries, which usually store an IP and port, not a hostname.
- Firewall or allowlist entries on your own network.
- Map or stats pages you host.
If some people get in and others do not, work through Friends cannot connect: a checklist. Mixed results almost always mean DNS caching rather than a server problem.
Moving location rather than host? Changing your server location covers the move itself, and these DNS steps apply the same way afterwards.
Common questions
How long does a DNS change take to work?
Usually minutes if the TTL was low, and up to a day if it was set high before you edited. The edit is instant at your DNS host; the wait is other networks letting go of the answer they cached, which is what lowering the TTL in advance avoids.
Do I have to change the SRV record if only the IP changed?
Only if the port changed as well, and after a move to a different machine it nearly always does. The SRV record carries the port, so compare the port in that record with the one shown on your server page and update it if they differ.
Why does it work for me but not for my players?
That is the normal shape of a half spread DNS change. Your computer, or your network, is holding a different cached answer than theirs, and it resolves itself as the caches expire. Keeping the old server up with a notice in the MOTD covers you while that happens.
Can I point a domain at a server without using an SRV record?
Yes, if your server runs on the game's default port, in which case an A record alone is enough and players type just the hostname. On any other port you either add the SRV record or ask players to type the hostname and the port together.
Still stuck? Jump into our Discord at discord.gg/GuavaHost and the team will help you out.
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