MX record

Names the mail servers that accept email for a domain, with a priority number — lowest is tried first.

What one looks like

example.com.  3600  IN  MX  10 mail.example.com.

Things worth knowing

  • No MX record means the domain cannot receive email.
  • Equal priorities distribute load; different priorities create a fallback order.
  • An MX must point at a hostname, never at an IP address.

Look up a MX record yourself

dig (macOS / Linux)

dig MX example.com +short

nslookup (any OS)

nslookup -type=MX example.com

Your resolver may still be serving a cached copy — our propagation checker queries 30+ resolvers worldwide so you can see who already has the new MX record.

Look up a real MX record

Query any domain live and see every record type with its TTL.

Run a DNS lookup