What is a DNS server?

Either a recursive resolver, which looks up names for you (your ISP's, 1.1.1.1, 8.8.8.8), or an authoritative server, which holds the official records for a domain.

Time to live: the number of seconds a resolver may cache a record before asking again. Low TTLs let site owners change IPs quickly; high TTLs reduce lookups.

Does a proxy change my DNS?

An HTTP proxy and socks5h resolve names on the proxy side, so your own resolver is not used for proxied requests. Plain socks5 and some app settings still resolve locally, which leaks the domains you visit.

When DNS lookups go to your own resolver instead of through the proxy or VPN, revealing the domains you visit and sometimes your location to that resolver.

Should I change my DNS server?

A public resolver can be faster or more private than your ISP's, and DoH or DoT encrypts the queries. It does not change your IP address; only a proxy or VPN does that.

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What Is DNS (Domain Name System)?

DNS (the Domain Name System) is the internet's directory: it translates a name such as example.com into the IP address a computer needs to connect. Every visit to a website starts with a DNS lookup, usually answered in milliseconds from a cache.

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how it works

How a DNS lookup works

Your device asks a recursive resolver, usually run by your ISP or a public service such as 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8. If the answer is not cached, the resolver asks a root server where .com lives, asks a .com server which name servers hold example.com, then asks one of those authoritative servers for the record. The answer comes back with a TTL (time to live) that says how long it may be cached.

Classic DNS travels over port 53, mostly on UDP, unencrypted. DNS over HTTPS (DoH) and DNS over TLS (DoT) encrypt the query between you and the resolver.

1
A
Holds
An IPv4 address
Example
example.com → 203.0.113.10
2
AAAA
Holds
An IPv6 address
Example
example.com → 2001:db8::10
3
CNAME
Holds
An alias to another name
Example
www → example.com
4
MX
Holds
The mail servers for the domain
Example
10 mail.example.com
5
TXT
Holds
Free text: SPF, verification codes
Example
v=spf1 include:_spf.example.net ~all
6
NS
Holds
The domain's authoritative name servers
Example
ns1.example-dns.com

why it matters

Why DNS matters for proxy users

With a proxy, the question is who does the lookup: your machine or the proxy. That choice affects both privacy and the answers you get.

DNS: what it means for you

HTTP proxies resolve hostnames themselves, because your client sends them the name in the request or the CONNECT line.
With SOCKS5, socks5h:// sends the hostname to the proxy; plain socks5:// makes your own machine resolve it first, which is a DNS leak.
Large sites and CDNs answer DNS by location. Resolve from the wrong country and you may connect to a server for another region, even though your exit IP is right.
Your resolver sees every domain it resolves, so local lookups reveal your browsing to your ISP even when the pages go through a proxy.

try it

Look up a record from the command line

dig (macOS, Linux) and nslookup (every OS) query DNS directly:

CleanProxies rotating residential proxies use an HTTP(S) gateway, so hostnames are resolved on the proxy side, from the exit location you target.

A and AAAA lookupsShell

dig +short example.com A
dig +short example.com AAAA

# Ask a specific resolver
dig +short example.com A @1.1.1.1

# Windows
nslookup example.com

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