Best DNS for Gaming: PS5, Xbox & PC (2026 Guide)

Q: Does changing DNS lower ping?

No — not your in-game ping. DNS only affects how fast your device resolves server names into IP addresses, which happens before the match starts. Once packets are flowing to the game server, the resolver is out of the picture and your ping is pure routing: you, your ISP, the backbone, the game server. A faster DNS makes matchmaking, lobbies and sign-ins snappier — it doesn't move your 50 ms ping to 30 ms.

Q: Can changing DNS fix PSN or Xbox sign-in errors?

Sometimes, yes. ISP DNS outages are a common cause of 'can't sign into PSN' or flaky Xbox connections, and switching to a public resolver sidesteps the whole category. On PlayStation, changing your DNS settings is one of Sony's own recommended steps for error NW-31205-1. If the outage is on Sony's or Microsoft's side, no DNS change will help — check the official server status first.

Gaming desk with PS5 and Xbox consoles under a glowing network globe representing DNS server selection for gaming

Let's get the honesty out of the way first: changing your DNS will not lower your in-game ping. Anyone selling you a "0-ping DNS" is selling you fiction. But that doesn't mean DNS is irrelevant to gaming — it just matters in a different place than most guides admit. It controls how fast your console or PC finds matchmaking servers, resolves patch downloads, signs into PSN and Xbox Live, and loads the stores inside your launchers.

This guide covers the short version honestly: what DNS actually changes, the five servers worth using, the exact setup steps for PS5, Xbox and PC, the one hidden win nobody talks about (faster downloads), and what to do when a new DNS breaks something.

What DNS Actually Changes in a Gaming Session

Think of DNS as the phone book your game checks before it can call anyone. A name like matchmaking-na.warzone.activision.com means something to you; to your console it's just letters. The DNS server turns that name into an IP address — and only then can your PS5 or PC start talking to the server. Every fresh connection fires another lookup: lobby servers, matchmaking endpoints, friend invites, patch downloads, web stores inside launchers.

Here's the catch most explainers skip: once the lookup is done and packets are flowing to the resolved IP, DNS drops out of the picture entirely. The ping number in the corner of your screen mid-match is pure routing now — you, your ISP, the backbone, the game server. That single distinction decides every honest answer below.

What a faster DNS actually fixes

Snappier matchmaking and lobbies. A slow ISP resolver can add hundreds of milliseconds to every server lookup. A fast one makes lobby servers and matchmaking endpoints resolve near-instantly.
Faster downloads. Your DNS influences which download server (CDN node) Steam, PSN and Xbox Live point you at — the hidden win, explained below.
Reliable sign-ins. ISP DNS outages are a common cause of "can't sign into PSN" mornings. A public resolver sidesteps the whole category.
Better security. Some resolvers block malicious domains by default, which matters when you're downloading mods and visiting fan sites.

What DNS does not fix

In-game ping, packet loss, or FPS. None of those run through the resolver mid-match. If your ping is bad, read our ping guide or our packet-loss guide — those attack the real causes.
NAT type. A Strict NAT means UPnP or ports are misbehaving on your router. No resolver on earth changes that.
Matchmaking region. Games like Apex, Valorant, CS2 and Warzone pick your region from your IP geolocation, not your DNS. Changing DNS doesn't move you to a different bracket.

The single biggest win, though, is simple: leaving your ISP's default DNS behind. ISP resolvers are typically the slowest and least reliable option on the network. Everything below starts from that one change.

The Only 5 DNS Servers Worth Considering

There are dozens of public resolvers, but only a handful combine the speed, uptime, and privacy story a gamer should care about. Here they are, with the exact addresses to type:

Resolver	Primary / Secondary	Speed	Privacy	Best for
Cloudflare	`1.1.1.1` / `1.0.0.1`	Fastest in most regions	Query data purged within ~25 hours	Most gamers' default pick
Google Public DNS	`8.8.8.8` / `8.8.4.4`	Very fast, huge global reach	Keeps anonymized aggregate logs	Reliable fallback everywhere
Quad9	`9.9.9.9` / `149.112.112.112`	Fast, fastest in parts of Europe	Non-profit, zero-logs policy	Privacy-first gamers
NextDNS	Custom addresses per profile	Fast	Configurable, you set retention	Families wanting per-device filtering
AdGuard DNS	`94.140.14.14` / `94.140.15.15`	Fast	Aggregate logs only, 24h	Built-in ad and tracker blocking

Our picks by situation

Default choice: Cloudflare (1.1.1.1 / 1.0.0.1). The fastest resolver for most locations, easy addresses, and the cleanest privacy story among the big two. If you change one thing, change it to this.
Reliable fallback: Google (8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4). Best reach in regions where Cloudflare's network is thinner, and nearly everyone can remember the address. The trade-off is privacy — Google keeps anonymized aggregate query logs.
Privacy-first: Quad9 (9.9.9.9 / 149.112.112.112). A Swiss non-profit with a zero-logs policy and malicious-domain blocking on by default. In parts of Europe it benchmarks faster than Cloudflare.
A smart trick: mix them. Use Cloudflare as primary and Google as secondary. Different providers as primary/secondary means a single provider's outage can't take you offline — and it costs you nothing.
Families: NextDNS or AdGuard. NextDNS gives per-device profiles (kids on filtered DNS, your rig on raw), and AdGuard bakes in ad blocking — which also kills the upsell pop-ups game launchers are addicted to.

Skipped on purpose: older resolvers like OpenDNS — solid uptime, but their consumer features haven't meaningfully evolved in years, and they log queries.

Best DNS for PS5

Consoles accept any public DNS, and the PS5 setup takes about two minutes. The path is buried, so follow it exactly:

Go to Settings → Network → Set Up Internet Connection.
Select your network, press the Options button, and choose Advanced Settings.
Change DNS Settings to Manual.
Enter 1.1.1.1 as Primary DNS and 1.0.0.1 as Secondary DNS.
Save, exit, and run Test Internet Connection to confirm it works.

Two things worth knowing. First, the PS5 has no encrypted-DNS support — no DoH, no DoT — so queries leave the console as plaintext. If encryption matters to you, the only fix is setting encrypted DNS at the router (see below). Second: NAT type is not a DNS problem. If your PS5 shows NAT Type 3, the fix is UPnP or port forwarding on the router — switching resolvers will never fix it.

One more console-specific tip: if you ever hit PlayStation's NW-31205-1 error (network connection too weak or unstable to reach the PlayStation server), changing to a public DNS is one of Sony's own recommended troubleshooting steps — ISP DNS issues are a common cause.

Best DNS for Xbox Series X and S

The Xbox walk is shorter:

Press the Xbox button and go to Profile & System → Settings → General → Network Settings.
Select Advanced Settings → DNS Settings.
Choose Manual and enter 1.1.1.1 as Primary and 1.0.0.1 as Secondary.
Back out and run Test network connection to verify.

The same two caveats apply: encrypted DNS on an Xbox means encrypted DNS at the router (the console's own settings are plain IP entry only), and NAT strictness is a router problem, not a resolver problem. If you've been fighting Xbox sign-in or connection errors that come and go, a public DNS is worth trying before you blame your ISP — resolver flakiness is a quiet, common cause.

Best DNS for PC: Windows 11 and Mac

Windows 11

Open Settings → Network & Internet, click your active connection (Wi-Fi or Ethernet).
Find DNS server assignment and click Edit.
Switch from Automatic to Manual, toggle IPv4 on.
Enter 1.1.1.1 as Preferred DNS and 1.0.0.1 as Alternate DNS.
Optional but recommended: set the Encryption dropdown to Encrypted only (DNS over HTTPS) if your chosen resolver supports it — Cloudflare, Google and Quad9 all do. Windows 11 will then encrypt your lookups automatically.

To verify the change stuck, open Command Prompt and run ipconfig /flushdns, then nslookup cloudflare.com 1.1.1.1 — if the answer comes back from 1.1.1.1 instead of your ISP's resolver, you're done.

Mac

Open System Settings → Network, select your active interface and click Details.
Open the DNS tab, click +, and add each address on its own line.
Click OK. macOS uses plaintext DNS by default; encrypted DNS needs a configuration profile from your resolver or a local tool like dnscrypt-proxy.

Best Move: Set DNS on the Router

If you have more than one gaming device, change DNS on the router instead of on each device. One change covers your PS5, Xbox, PC, phone and smart TV all at once — and it's the only way to get encrypted DNS for consoles, since none of them support DoH or DoT natively. With an encrypted upstream configured at the router, the consoles keep speaking plain DNS on your home network while the traffic leaving your house stays encrypted.

Open your router's admin panel — usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 in a browser (check the label on the router for the default login).
Find DNS settings — usually under WAN or Internet settings.
Replace the existing DNS with 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 (or your chosen pair).
Save, reboot the router, then restart your consoles/PCs so they pick up the new resolver.

This is also the fix if your ISP silently overrides your DNS: some ISPs intercept port-53 DNS traffic at the network level, so even a manually configured 1.1.1.1 on the console gets rewritten upstream. If your lookups never seem to change, encrypted DNS (DoH/DoT) at the router is the only setting that survives that interception.

The Hidden Win: Faster Downloads

Here's the DNS benefit nobody's marketing: your resolver influences which download server you get. Steam, PSN and Xbox Live serve games from global CDNs, and they use your DNS location to decide which edge node hands you the file. A poor resolver can point you at a distant or congested node; a good one tends to land you on the closest fast one. Players switching from ISP DNS to Cloudflare or Google commonly report noticeably faster PS5 and Steam downloads — same connection, better routing to the CDN.

How to test it yourself: run a speed test on a large download (a Steam game, a PS5 patch) before the switch, change your DNS, restart the console or PC, and run the same download again at a similar time of day. If the numbers jump, you've found a better CDN route for your location. If nothing changes, your ISP's resolver was already doing fine — and you've lost nothing by trying.

Don't Trust the List — Benchmark Your Own

Every guide (including this one) quotes averages, but the fastest resolver for you depends on your distance to each provider's nearest server. A resolver that's lightning-fast in Texas can be mediocre in Karachi or rural France. The right move takes ten minutes:

Download GRC's DNS Benchmark (free, Windows) or run a quick check at dnsperftest.com — both measure resolver latency from your actual connection.
Test the shortlist: Cloudflare, Google, Quad9, and your ISP's default.
Set the winner as your primary and the runner-up (from a different provider) as your secondary.
Re-run the test after big changes — ISPs and resolver networks shift over time.

One honest caveat: the benchmark winner for raw lookup speed and the best resolver for your downloads aren't always the same, because CDN node selection matters more than milliseconds. That's why the download test in the section above is worth doing separately.

When the New DNS Breaks Something

Changing DNS is reversible in under a minute — flip the setting back to Automatic on the device or router and you're exactly where you started. But a few failure modes are worth knowing so you don't panic:

Nothing loads after the change. You likely mistyped an address. Re-check the primary/secondary IPs, or temporarily set only a primary. Then restart the device.
Captive portals (hotel/dorm Wi-Fi) stop working. Some login pages only resolve through the network's own DNS. Switch back to Automatic to get through the portal, then re-apply your custom DNS.
Parental controls or ISP features break. Some ISP "safe browsing" features only work with the ISP's resolver. If you rely on them, use NextDNS with filtering instead — you keep control without losing the feature.
Everything works but feels slower. You picked a resolver with no nearby server for your location. Benchmark again and switch to the actual winner — don't assume the famous brand is fastest for you.
One device works, another doesn't. Check the failing device still has DHCP enabled and didn't inherit a stale static DNS from an old setup. A reboot usually clears it.

And the one thing not to worry about: anti-cheat bans. VAC, EAC and BattlEye watch memory and processes at the kernel level. There is no documented case of a custom DNS resolver triggering an anti-cheat flag — if you're getting flagged, the cause is elsewhere.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does changing DNS lower ping?

No — not your in-game ping, anyway. DNS only affects how fast your device resolves server names into IP addresses, which happens before the match starts. Once packets are flowing to the game server, the resolver is out of the picture and your ping is pure routing: you, your ISP, the backbone, the game server. A faster DNS makes matchmaking, lobbies and sign-ins snappier — it doesn't move your 50 ms ping to 30 ms.

What is the fastest DNS for gaming?

Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) benchmarks fastest in most regions, and Quad9 (9.9.9.9) is often fastest in parts of Europe. But the honest answer is: benchmark it yourself from your own connection with GRC's DNS Benchmark or dnsperftest.com, because your distance to each provider's nearest server decides the winner. The biggest single gain is simply leaving your ISP's default DNS behind.

Which DNS is best for PS5?

Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 (primary) and 1.0.0.1 (secondary) is the best default pick for PS5: fastest lookups in most regions and a clean privacy story. Set it via Settings → Network → Set Up Internet Connection → your network → Options → Advanced Settings → DNS Settings → Manual. Remember the PS5 has no encrypted-DNS support — for DoH/DoT you must configure it at the router.

Is 1.1.1.1 better than 8.8.8.8 for gaming?

For raw lookup speed, 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) usually wins, and its privacy terms are better — query data is purged within about 25 hours, while Google keeps anonymized aggregate logs. Google's 8.8.8.8 has slightly broader global reach, which can help in regions where Cloudflare's network is thinner. Many gamers run Cloudflare as primary and Google as secondary, which gives you both.

Can changing DNS fix PSN or Xbox sign-in errors?

Sometimes, yes. ISP DNS outages are a common cause of "can't sign into PSN" or flaky Xbox connections, and switching to a public resolver sidesteps the whole category. On PlayStation, changing your DNS settings is one of Sony's own recommended steps for error NW-31205-1. If the outage is on Sony's or Microsoft's side, no DNS change will help — check the official server status first.