domains
How to point a domain at your server (without editing config files)
You have a server with an IP address and a domain you bought somewhere else. Connecting them is one small DNS change — here's what it means, the single record you need, and how the padlock follows.
You've got a server running somewhere, and you own a domain name. Right now they don't know about each other: your site answers at a string of numbers like 203.0.113.10, and your nice domain points at nothing in particular. Nobody is going to type an IP address to visit you.
Connecting the two is smaller than it sounds — usually a single change, in one place. Here's what's actually going on.
What "pointing a domain" means
Think of DNS — the Domain Name System — as the internet's phone book. When someone types your domain, their browser looks it up to find the real address to call. "Pointing a domain at your server" just means writing your server's address into that phone book under your name.
That's it. You're not moving your domain, not transferring anything, not touching the server itself. You're adding one entry that says "this name → that address."
The one record you need
The entry is called an A record. It maps a name to your server's IP address — the 203.0.113.10-style number your provider gave you. You add:
- one A record for your bare domain (
example.com), and - one for
www(www.example.com), so both spellings work.
(If your provider also gave you a longer address with colons in it, that's an IPv6 address — you can add an AAAA record the same way. Optional, but nice to have.)
That's the whole DNS side. One or two lines.
Where you actually do it
You make this change wherever you bought the domain — your registrar (Namecheap, GoDaddy, Cloudflare, your hosting provider, and so on), not on the server. Look for a section called "DNS", "DNS records", or "Manage DNS", and add the A record there with your server's IP.
Then you wait a little. DNS changes spread across the internet on their own schedule — usually a few minutes, occasionally an hour or two. If your domain doesn't work the instant you hit save, that's normal. Give it a moment.
Then the padlock
Once your domain actually resolves to the server, you can turn on HTTPS — the padlock and the https:// that tell visitors the connection is secure. A certificate gets issued for your domain name, and from then on browsers trust it.
The one thing worth knowing: HTTPS can only be set up after the domain points at the server, because the certificate is proof that this name really lives here. So the order is always the same — point the domain first, padlock second.
The shortcut
The fiddly part isn't the idea, it's the details. Which record type? The bare domain or www? Has it propagated yet? Why is the certificate failing? Each one is a small thing that fails quietly.
With Server Manager you skip the guesswork. You tell it the domain you want to use, and it tells you the exact record to add at your registrar — name, type, and value, ready to copy. Once the name resolves, it sets up HTTPS for you automatically: no certificate files, nothing to renew by hand. You do the one click at your registrar; it does the rest.
If you're still near the start, our guide on what to do with a brand-new server shows where this fits in the bigger picture.
It's still all yours
A domain pointed at your own server is a small thing that feels like a big one — it's the moment the box you rented becomes your site, at your name, on your terms. No middleman holding the keys. Just a name, an address, and a padlock — and you owning all three.
The help guides go deeper on domains, DNS, and HTTPS whenever you want the detail.