Dotless Domains

"Dotless domains" are domains that consist of a single label (e.g. http://ai/, as opposed to http://example.ai/; or contact@pa as opposed to contact@example.pa) due to there being A/AAAA or MX records in the apex of a TLD zone.[1]

ICANN is notoriously against the practice,[1] and prohibits it where it can – namely, on gTLDs.[3] However, ccTLDs are under the country's jurisdiction, so it can do as it pleases, and as such there are examples of active dotless ccTLD domains.

For email, the protocol itself would need to allow a dotless domain as a destination address. According to ICANN's SSAC,[1] SMTP requires at least two labels (i.e. "domain.tld") to deliver an email, so it is unlikely Panama would receive an email sent to contact@pa, for example. For completeness' sake, however, apex MX servers are listed below as well.

Table of Contents:

1. A or AAAA
   1. Current
      1. Screenshots
   2. New TLDs
   3. Historical
      1. Screenshots
2. MX only
   1. Current
   2. Historical
3. Bonus: Dotless Dot?
4. Special Thanks
5. References

# A or AAAA

# Current

Last checked: 10 Jan. 2024.

# Screenshots

# New TLDs

In order to prevent local aliases from colliding with newly registered TLDs (think programmers using foo.bar as a test domain before the creation of the gTLD .bar), ICANN published a resolution in 2014 requiring new TLDs to include a few apex DNS records on their TLDs for at least 90 days.[4]

As such, the following TLDs also contain apex records, but they're merely informational and don't point to real servers:

Last checked: 10 Jan. 2024.

# Historical

These are TLDs that previously had apex records, but no longer do so. The bulk of it comes from a list by the IETF from 2013:

# Screenshots

# MX only

# Current

Last checked: 10 Jan. 2024.

# Historical

Similarly to the historical A/AAAA records, these are TLDs that previously (only) had apex MX records, but no longer do so:

# Bonus: Dotless Dot?

Dotless domains work because Top Level Domains are just as much nodes in the DNS tree as Second Level Domains, or any other level beneath them. That means they can contain A, AAAA and MX records.

Another, often forgotten node in the DNS tree is the root, represented by a single dot. It's the parent of all TLDs! Technically speaking, every domain terminates with a dot: [example.com] is, in fact, [example.com.]; "example" is a child of "com" which, in turn, is a child of ".".

Followed to its logical conclusion, this means the root domain could also contain A, AAAA and MX records! That is, accessing http://./ or emailing example@. is, at least in theory, possible.

However, the odds of that happening are very nearly zero; as such, the root doesn't have A, AAAA or MX records – and likely won't, ever.