DNS Record Types

AAAA Record (IPv6) — Complete Guide

IPv6 is the future of internet addressing. Learn how AAAA records work, how to set them up, and when to use them alongside A records.

Last updated: April 2026

What is an AAAA Record?

An AAAA record (pronounced "quad-A") maps a domain name to an IPv6 address, the next-generation IP addressing system. Just as an A record points a domain to an IPv4 address like 203.0.113.42, an AAAA record points it to an IPv6 address like 2606:4700:4700::1111.

AAAA Record example
example.com. 3600 IN AAAA 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334

Why IPv6 Exists

IPv4 addresses are 32-bit numbers, giving a theoretical maximum of about 4.3 billion unique addresses. With billions of devices now connected to the internet, we've essentially run out. IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses, providing an astronomically large address space — approximately 340 undecillion unique addresses. That's enough for every atom on Earth to have its own address.

IPv6 adoption has been accelerating. As of 2026, over 40% of internet traffic globally uses IPv6, with countries like India and the USA leading adoption. Google, Cloudflare, and most major CDNs fully support IPv6.

IPv6 Address Format

IPv6 addresses are 128-bit numbers written as eight groups of four hexadecimal digits, separated by colons:

IPv6 address formats
Full:       2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334
Compressed: 2001:db8:85a3::8a2e:370:7334  (leading zeros & :: for consecutive zeros)
Loopback:   ::1  (equivalent to 127.0.0.1 in IPv4)

Should You Add an AAAA Record?

Best practice is to add both A and AAAA records for any public-facing service. This is called "dual-stack" configuration:

  • ▸IPv6-capable devices will use the AAAA record (often faster, no NAT)
  • ▸IPv4-only devices fall back to the A record seamlessly
  • ▸Improves performance for a growing portion of users
  • ▸Future-proofs your infrastructure
Note: Browsers implement "Happy Eyeballs" (RFC 6555) — they try IPv6 first and fall back to IPv4 almost instantly if IPv6 fails. This means adding a valid AAAA record never hurts performance.

How to Create an AAAA Record

AAAA record setup (Cloudflare-style)
Type:    AAAA
Name:    @          (root) or  www  (subdomain)
Content: 2606:4700:4700::1111
TTL:     Auto

Common Mistakes

  • ▸Adding an AAAA record pointing to a server that doesn't actually have IPv6 enabled
  • ▸Misconfiguring the IPv6 address (check for typos — they're long!)
  • ▸Using a link-local IPv6 address (fe80::) which won't route on the public internet
💡 Tip: Use ping6 yourdomain.com or dig AAAA yourdomain.com to verify your AAAA record is resolving correctly from the command line.

Related Articles

A Record (IPv4)

The IPv4 counterpart to AAAA records

CNAME Record

Create hostname aliases

Point a Domain to a Server

Connect your domain to a web server