SRV Record Lookup

Check SRV records (service location records) for any service. Free real-time DNS propagation checker.

What is an SRV record?

An SRV record ("service") points clients at the host and port that provide a specific service for a domain. SRV records are queried at _service._proto.example.com — for example, Microsoft 365 uses _sip._tls.example.com; XMPP uses _xmpp-client._tcp.example.com; Minecraft uses _minecraft._tcp.example.com.

What an SRV record contains

Each SRV record has four fields: priority (lower is preferred), weight (load balancing across equal priorities), port, and target hostname. Example: 10 5 5060 sip.example.com.

Reading the results

An SRV value has four parts: priority weight port target. Example: 10 5 5060 sip.example.com means "for this service, try sip.example.com on port 5060." Lower priority is preferred; weight load-balances within an equal priority.

Common errors and pitfalls

• Querying the bare domain — SRV lives at _service._proto.host, not at the apex. Looking up example.com for SRV usually returns nothing.
• Wrong protocol prefix — _sip._tcp and _sip._tls and _sip._udp are different records. Check the service's documentation for which transport.
• Missing target A/AAAA — the target hostname needs its own forward DNS. Publishing SRV pointing to a hostname that doesn't resolve is the same as publishing nothing.

FAQ

Why isn't my SRV lookup returning anything?

Make sure you queried the full _service._proto.host form, not just the bare domain. Most domains do not have SRV records at the apex.

What's a typical SRV use case?

Microsoft 365 autodiscover (_autodiscover._tcp), SIP/VoIP services (_sip._tls), XMPP/Jabber (_xmpp-client._tcp), Minecraft servers (_minecraft._tcp), and Active Directory client locator records.

What does "weight 0" mean?

A weight of 0 inside a priority tier means "only use this if no other higher-weighted entry is available." It's a way to mark a backup target.

Background reading

See the DNS Records Explained guide.