Dotless Domains

The term "dotless domain" usually refers to top-level domains (TLDs) – think com, gov, etc – that are reachable themselves using a web browser or email server.

That is, they are working domains that consist of a single label: http://com/, as opposed to http://example.com/; or contact@gov, as opposed to [email protected]. This can happen if the domain's DNS zone contains A/AAAA or MX records in its apex.[1]

Both the ICANN and the IAB are notoriously against the practice,[1][2] so ICANN prohibits it where it can – namely, on gTLDs.[3] However, DNS is decentralized, and ccTLDs (i.e. country code TLDs) fall largely under their own country's jurisdiction! As such, there currently are and historically have been examples of active dotless ccTLDs.

For email, the protocol itself would need to allow a dotless domain as a destination address. ICANN's SSAC argues that SMTP requires at least two labels (i.e. domain.tld) to deliver an email,[1] likely due to the following excerpts in the SMTP specification:

The domain name [...] is the entire, fully-qualified name. A domain name that is not in FQDN form is no more than a local alias. Local aliases MUST NOT appear in any SMTP transaction.

[...] Local nicknames or unqualified names MUST NOT be used.

However, dotless domains really are FQDN after all – as they include all labels required to uniquely identify the domain –, and the following clause can be argued to explicitely allow any dotless domains that have MX records:

[...] names that can be resolved to MX RRs [...] are permitted

Either way, it is unlikely Mauritania would receive an email sent to contact@mr, 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. Updates
5. Special Thanks
6. References

# A or AAAA

# Current

These are TLDs that, as of the last check, contain apex A or AAAA records. Unless referenced, dates indicate an observation by me, directly.

Last checked: 1 December 2025.

# 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: 1 December 2025.

# Historical

These are TLDs that previously had apex records, but no longer do so. Some come from a list compiled by the IETF in 2013;[5] unless referenced, other dates indicate an observation by me, directly.

# Screenshots

# MX only

# Current

These are TLDs that, as of the last check, contain only MX apex records; that is, they could, in theory, send and receive email, but have no reachable website. Unreferenced dates indicate an observation by me, directly.

Last checked: 1 December 2025.

# Historical

Similarly to the historical A/AAAA records, these are TLDs that previously (only) had apex MX records, but no longer do so. Some come from a list compiled by the IETF in 2013;[5] other unreferenced dates indicate an observation by me, directly.

# Bonus: Dotless Dot?

Dotless domains work because top-level domains (TLDs) are just as much nodes in the DNS tree as second-level domains (SLDs), or any other level beneath them. That means there is no technicaly limitation to their DNS records, and they may 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! Though it's usually omitted, 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.

Sadly, the odds of that ever happening are very nearly zero. The root doesn't have A, AAAA or MX records and likely won't, ever.