3. DNS Header and Response Codes

The header of a DNS message is its first 12 octets. Many of the fields and flags in the header diagram in Sections 4.1.1 through 4.1.3 of [RFC1035] are referred to by their names in that diagram. For example, the response codes are called "RCODEs", the data for a record is called the "RDATA", and the authoritative answer bit is often called "the AA flag" or "the AA bit".

Some of response codes that are defined in [RFC1035] have gotten their own shorthand names. Some common response code names that appear without reference to the numeric value are "FORMERR", "SERVFAIL", and "NXDOMAIN" (the latter of which is also referred to as "Name Error"). All of the RCODEs are listed at http://www.iana.org/assignments/dns-parameters, although that site uses mixed-case capitalization, while most documents use all-caps.

NODATA: "A pseudo RCODE which indicates that the name is valid for the given class, but there are no records of the given type. A NODATA response has to be inferred from the answer." (Quoted from [RFC2308], Section 1.) "NODATA is indicated by an answer with the RCODE set to NOERROR and no relevant answers in the answer section. The authority section will contain an SOA record, or there will be no NS records there." (Quoted from [RFC2308], Section 2.2.) Note that referrals have a similar format to NODATA replies; [RFC2308] explains how to distinguish them.

The term "NXRRSET" is sometimes used as a synonym for NODATA. However, this is a mistake, given that NXRRSET is a specific error code defined in [RFC2136].

Negative response: A response that indicates that a particular RRset does not exist, or whose RCODE indicates the nameserver cannot answer. Sections 2 and 7 of [RFC2308] describe the types of negative responses in detail.

Referrals: Data from the authority section of a non-authoritative answer. [RFC1035] Section 2.1 defines "authoritative" data. However, referrals at zone cuts (defined in Section 6) are not authoritative. Referrals may be zone cut NS resource records and their glue records. NS records on the parent side of a zone cut are an authoritative delegation, but are normally not treated as authoritative data. In general, a referral is a way for a server to send an answer saying that the server does not know the answer, but knows where the query should be directed in order to get an answer. Historically, many authoritative servers answered with a referral to the root zone when queried for a name for which they were not authoritative, but this practice has declined.