What is a AAAA Record?

Understanding the AAAA (Quad-A) Record

A AAAA Record (pronounced "Quad-A record") functions identically to a standard A record, but with one critical difference: it maps a domain name to an IPv6 address instead of an IPv4 address.

While IPv4 addresses are 32-bit values constrained by a pool of roughly 4.3 billion total addresses, IPv6 addresses are 128-bit values represented in hexadecimal format, providing an virtually inexhaustible supply of address space (340 undecillion addresses). As the global transition to IPv6 gains traction, AAAA records are essential to allow IPv6-enabled devices to discover and connect to your web servers without translating traffic.

Structure of a AAAA Record

Here is how a AAAA record appears in a standard DNS zone configuration:

• Name / Host: The domain name or subdomain configured.
• TTL (Time to Live): The caching window in seconds before recursive resolvers query the nameserver again.
• Record Type: AAAA, signifying IPv6 address resolution.
• Points To: The destination 128-bit IPv6 address, written as eight groups of four hexadecimal values separated by colons.

Query a AAAA Record in Real Time

Enter a domain below to query and inspect its live AAAA records:

Why Dual-Stack Configurations Matter

Because not all networks or end-user devices support IPv6 yet, most website administrators implement a dual-stack configuration. This means they create both an A record (for IPv4 clients) and a AAAA record (for IPv6 clients) pointing to the same web service.

Browsers and operating systems that support IPv6 will automatically prioritize the AAAA record to connect via IPv6, falling back to IPv4 and the A record only if the IPv6 connection fails.