DNS Zone Editor
What the Zone Editor Shows and Changes
The cPanel zone editor is the panel tool that displays and changes the DNS zone of a domain. A DNS zone is the set of records that describes a domain: where its website lives, which servers receive its email, and text records that other services check for verification.
Each record has a type. Address records point a name at a server's IP address, mail exchanger (MX) records name the servers that receive email, and text (TXT) records hold values used by other services. The editor lists these records so you can see what the domain currently publishes.
Extra domain names on the same account are covered in addon and parked domains.
When the Zone Editor Actually Takes Effect
The zone editor only controls what the internet sees when the hosting server is authoritative for the domain. Authoritative means the server holds the official answers for the domain. That is the case when the domain's nameservers point to the host.
If the domain uses a DNS provider elsewhere, the zone editor can still store records, but nothing it contains reaches visitors or mail senders. This is the most common source of confusion. Someone edits a record in the panel, sees no change and assumes the panel is broken, when the official answers are held elsewhere.
Changes also take time to spread. Resolvers, the servers that answer on behalf of visitors, cache records for the period set by each record's time to live (TTL), so an edit may not be visible everywhere at once. Mail-related records are discussed in email management in a control panel.
Frequently asked questions
Why don't my DNS changes take effect in cPanel?
Usually because the domain is not using the hosting server's nameservers, so the server is not the authority for the domain. The public internet then ignores the records in the zone editor. Make the change in the DNS provider that actually answers for the domain. Allow time for cached answers to expire before judging the result.
Does the zone editor also manage my domain registration?
No. The zone editor manages DNS records only. Domain registration, renewal and the nameserver setting at the registrar are separate. The nameservers set at the registrar decide which DNS provider answers for the domain, and the zone editor works only when that provider is the hosting server.