When you look at your Domains page, the Nameservers column shows whether your domain is pointed at the nameservers Maildoso uses to manage its DNS (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC). If it shows "NS Not Set," that step hasn't completed yet — and what to do next depends on how you got the domain and whether this is a new domain or one that was previously working. For the other statuses your domain might show along the way, see Domain status glossary: what your domain's status means.
If you registered the domain through Maildoso
New domains need a short window after purchase to finish provisioning, including generating and attaching the nameservers. This is handled automatically on our side — there's nothing for you to configure.
Give it some time after purchase before checking again.
If the status still shows "NS Not Set" after 24 hours, contact us with the domain name(s) affected — this can happen when a registration didn't fully complete, and we'll finish it on our side.
You don't need to re-purchase the domain or add anything yourself — doing so won't speed this up and can cause duplicate charges.
If you brought your own domain (already owned elsewhere)
For external domains, "NS Not Set" usually means our two nameservers haven't been added at your domain's registrar yet.
Check your domain's page in Maildoso for the two nameservers we've assigned to it, then add only those two at your registrar (wherever you manage the domain — GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, etc.).
Don't leave your registrar's original nameservers in place alongside ours, and don't add any extra ones — only our two should be set.
Nameservers are generated as soon as you click Connect, and you have 24 hours to set them at your registrar. If that window passes before you set them, they expire automatically (status "NS Expired") and you'll need to regenerate a fresh set from the Domains page or via API — this is a normal, self-service step, not something you need to contact support for.
Once you've updated them at your registrar, we detect the change automatically and the domain typically activates within about 2 hours. Full DNS propagation across the internet can occasionally take longer, up to 24 hours depending on your registrar.
If your domain was registered through a registrar that locks nameservers to its own infrastructure (for example, domains bought directly through Cloudflare Registrar), it may not be possible to point it to our nameservers while it stays with that registrar. The most common fix is to transfer the domain's registration to a registrar that allows nameserver changes (for example, Namecheap or GoDaddy) and then point it to ours — registrar transfers can take several days and aren't instant, so plan ahead if you're on a deadline. If a transfer isn't an option for you, contact us and we'll help you find another path forward. See Using domains registered with Cloudflare Registrar for more on this specific case.
My domain was active before, but now shows "NS Processing" or "NS Expired" after a renewal
This is a different situation from a brand-new domain still finishing setup. If a domain that was previously Active drops back to "NS Not Set," "NS Processing," or "NS Expired" shortly after its renewal date, here's what to do:
Don't remove or change the nameservers at your registrar — for a domain that was already working, they should still be set to ours from before the renewal. Touching them can restart the process and delay things further.
This can take longer to clear than a typical new-domain setup. Give it up to 24 hours after the renewal date before assuming something is wrong.
If it's still stuck after 24 hours, contact us with the domain name(s) and the approximate renewal date — this is a known class of issue our team is actively tracking, and we can push the domain through manually rather than you needing to re-add nameservers or re-purchase anything.
I set the nameservers correctly, but the status still won't clear or keeps asking me to regenerate
If you've double-checked that only our two nameservers are set at your registrar (no extras, none missing) and the domain still shows "NS Not Set," "NS Processing," or keeps flipping back to "NS Expired" even though you set them within the window, this isn't something you did wrong — it's a known class of stuck-status issue we actively track and can usually clear from our side without you needing to regenerate or re-add anything again.
Verify what's actually set using an external DNS lookup tool (for example whatsmydns.net, or a terminal
dig NS yourdomain.com) rather than relying on memory — this confirms whether the nameservers really match what we assigned.Don't keep regenerating nameservers repeatedly if the ones you already have match — each regeneration issues a new set and restarts the clock, which can make a stuck status take even longer to clear.
If the lookup confirms our nameservers are correctly set and the status still hasn't updated after a few hours, contact us with the domain name — we'll check and push it through manually rather than you needing to keep retrying.
Domains with DNSSEC enabled
If your external domain has DNSSEC enabled at your registrar, delegating it to our nameservers can fail or fall out of sync even after you've pointed the nameservers correctly. The old DNSSEC (DS) records left at the registry conflict with the new nameservers, which can leave the domain looking stuck or intermittently unresolvable.
Before pointing an external domain to our nameservers, disable DNSSEC for that domain at your registrar first.
If you've already switched nameservers correctly and the domain still won't resolve or keeps showing "NS Not Set," check whether DNSSEC is still enabled — it's the most common cause we see for this specific symptom.
Not sure whether DNSSEC is on, or how to turn it off at your registrar? Contact us with the domain name and we can help you check.
Why we need our nameservers specifically
Maildoso manages your domain's DNS records (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC) for you so your mailboxes work correctly out of the box. That only works once the domain's nameservers point to us — we can't apply or troubleshoot DNS records on a domain that's still pointed elsewhere, and we don't support adding these records manually at a third-party DNS host. See How DNS records work for your Maildoso domains for more on this.
Still showing "NS Not Set," "NS Processing," or "NS Expired" after following the steps above, or not sure which case applies to your domain? Contact us with the domain name and we'll take a look.