My domain doesn’t activate

We activate a domain once the registry of its top-level domain names only our nameservers for it: two of them are enough. Until then it is “Waiting for nameservers”, and the domain’s page says what we see. These are the usual reasons.

Other nameservers are still there

Every nameserver has to be one of ours (ns1.dns.lgbt, ns2.dns.lgbt, …). If your registrar kept its own next to ours, or a parking service, remove them.

The change hasn’t reached the registry yet

Some registrars pass changes on at once, others take hours, and some need you to confirm by email first. Look for a pending change or an email from them. We check often at first, then less often: within minutes on the first day and while the deadline is near.

Check it yourself

Ask one of your top-level domain’s nameservers which nameservers it names for your domain, for example with dig:

dig +short NS example.org @a.nic.example

Use your domain, and a nameserver of your top-level domain (dig +short NS org lists them). Only ours should come back. Public resolvers may still show old answers for a while; the registry’s answer is the one that counts.

It was removed

A domain that isn’t active 24 hours after you added it is removed, so nobody holds a name they don’t own. Add it again: if you added it within the last 7 days already, it has only 10 minutes this time, so set the nameservers first. An active domain whose nameservers change away from ours is deactivated, and removed a day later unless they come back.

DNSSEC at the registrar

If your old provider signed the domain, your registrar may still hold its DS record. Remove it when you move to us, or resolvers will reject our answers. See DNSSEC and the DS record.