DNS propagation

Definition

DNS propagation is the transition period after a DNS change, while cached answers expire unevenly across resolvers.

How it works

The name is misleading: nothing is being pushed out across the internet. Your authoritative nameservers answer with the new record immediately — but resolvers around the world keep serving their cached copy until its time-to-live runs out. Since those caches expire at different moments, different visitors see the change at different times.

Example: After an A record changes, one network may reach the new server while another still lands on the old address.

Often confused: Records do not copy themselves from server to server; caches simply expire on their own schedules.

Related terms

• Authoritative nameserver
• Cache
• Recursive resolver
• Time to live (TTL)

Learn more from Bitfoo

• Read the DNS propagation guide

Sources

• IETF RFC 1034: Domain Names — Concepts and Facilities
• IETF RFC 1035: Domain Names — Implementation and Specification

Last reviewed 2026-07-19.