Guides / Domains

Point a domain at GameSignal hosting

You already own yourclan.com (or you just registered one). This guide explains the DNS ideas that matter when that name should open your community website on GameSignal — not a click-by-click tour of every registrar’s control panel, because those UIs change monthly.

Connect domain guide

What this covers

GameSignal provides web hosting for community sites (rules, Discord, status pages). Pointing a domain here makes browsers load that site when someone types your name. It does not move your Rust or DayZ game server. Game connect IPs stay wherever you already rent the game host; the website can still display that IP via config.js.

Plans, SSL and cPanel are summarised on Hosting. Domain registration may be billed separately depending on where you buy the name — see the FAQ.

Before you touch DNS

  1. Finish ordering hosting and note the welcome email. You need the hostname or IP we tell you to point at, and confirmation that the site is assigned in cPanel.
  2. Know who controls DNS for the domain: registrar panel, Cloudflare, or another DNS host. Changing nameservers and editing records are different steps — if someone else “holds” the domain for the guild, get access first.
  3. Decide whether the main brand is the bare domain (example.com) or www.example.com. Both can work; pick one as primary and redirect the other later if needed.

We will give you the exact target values for your account. Do not copy an IP from a random tutorial — wrong A records send visitors somewhere else entirely.

Apex domain (example.com)

The apex (root) name usually uses an A record: host/name @ or blank, type A, value = the IPv4 address from your GameSignal setup notes. Some DNS providers also offer ALIAS/ANAME for apex pointing at a hostname; only use those if we say your account supports that pattern.

Remove or replace old A records that still point at a previous host, parking page or builder platform. Two competing A records for @ is a common reason the site “sometimes” loads the wrong place.

www and CNAME

For www, many setups use a CNAME that points www at your hosting hostname (the name we provide), or a second A record matching the apex. Follow the combination we recommend for your plan so SSL can cover both names cleanly.

Do not CNAME the apex itself unless your DNS provider documents a special apex CNAME/ALIAS feature — classic DNS does not allow a normal CNAME on @.

Mail records (MX) and other services on the same domain are separate. Changing web A/CNAME records should not require deleting MX unless you are migrating email too. If the guild uses Google Workspace or similar, leave MX alone while you move the website.

SSL / HTTPS

GameSignal hosting includes free SSL for your site once DNS points correctly and the certificate can issue. Browsers then show HTTPS. Until DNS settles, you may briefly see certificate warnings or the old host — that is usually propagation or a leftover Cloudflare proxy setting, not “SSL is broken forever.”

If you use Cloudflare (or another proxy) in front of the domain, set SSL mode appropriately and make sure the proxy is not still aiming at the previous origin. Orange-cloud proxying to the wrong IP looks identical to “GameSignal SSL failed” from the outside.

Waiting and checking

DNS changes can take minutes or several hours depending on TTL and your provider. After you save records:

  • Check with a DNS lookup tool that @ and www return the values we expect
  • Open the domain in a private window
  • Confirm the community template loads (not a registrar parking page)

If nothing changes after a long wait, the domain may still be using old nameservers, or you edited records at the registrar while Cloudflare (or similar) is the real DNS authority. Edit records where the nameservers actually point.

When to ask us

Open a ticket via Contact (or your client area) if you have the domain login but not the target IP/hostname, if SSL will not issue after DNS looks correct, or if you want us to verify records before you cut over from an old site. We help with DNS and SSL at a practical level; we will not invent step-by-step screenshots for every registrar.

Buying a brand-new name through us versus bringing your own is covered on Hosting and the FAQ. Template editing after the domain works is on Edit Templates.

Domain ready, DNS unclear?

Send the domain name and where you manage DNS — we’ll reply with the records your account should use.

Contact support View hosting