dotvitals

A recent change has not reached every resolver yet

InfoHigh confidencedns.propagation.stale-answers

What this check looks for

Some resolvers are still serving the previous value from their cache. Nothing is wrong: the old answer expires by itself, and we can tell you when.

Why it matters

This is the single most common reason people run a propagation check, and the single most common thing other checkers get wrong — they show a red cross and let you assume you have broken something. You have not; you are waiting.

What it costs your score

This check never deducts. It reports a fact — or reports that something could not be verified — and is shown on the report without moving the score.

Severity
info
Default confidence
high
Status when triggered
info
Deduction
0 points
Family cap
none
Category
DNS
Module
Dns propagation
Fix owned by
dns host
In the ruleset since
2026.09

How the whole score is calculated

How to fix it

Wait for the cached copies to expire — and lower the TTL before your next change.

There is no way to clear a third party's cache, so the only control you have is the TTL you set beforehand.

  1. Wait for the time shown; the resolvers still serving the old value will pick up the new one automatically.

  2. For the next change, lower the record's TTL to 300 seconds a full old-TTL period in advance.

  3. Make the change, confirm it, then restore the normal TTL.

How to confirm it worked

  • dig +short ‹type› ‹domain› @<the lagging resolver> — expect the new value after the TTL has elapsed

A named slot like ‹domain› — and the braces left in the configuration below — is filled in with your own values when this rule appears on a report.

Technical detail

These resolvers are serving the previous value for ‹type› at ‹domain›: ‹resolver list›. The old value clears in ‹clears in›, which is the remaining TTL on the cached copy. Nothing can shorten that: RFC 1035 §3.2.1 makes the TTL a promise to the resolver, and no mechanism exists to invalidate a third party's cache. To make the *next* change faster, lower the record's TTL a full TTL period before you make it.

Standards and references

Test this on your domain

Run the check that produces this finding, on its own, against any domain.

Open the dns propagation checkerBuild the fix

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