Guide for adding internationalized domain names (IDNs) with special characters to Vultr DNS using Punycode encoding
Domains that include accented letters or non-Latin scripts are called Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs). Since DNS only supports ASCII characters, these domains must be converted into Punycode, an ASCII-compatible encoding. Punycode ensures that the domain can be correctly resolved across the internet while still allowing users to enter the original Unicode domain in their browsers.
For example, a domain like münich.com would be converted to Punycode as xn--mnich-kva.com using Punycoder. This allows it to be added to Vultr DNS and managed like any other domain. Vultr supports IDNs only if the top-level domain (TLD) is ASCII-compatible. Domains with non-ASCII TLDs, such as .цом, cannot currently be added, even if converted to Punycode.
After converting a valid IDN to Punycode, you can add it via the Vultr Customer Portal, API, CLI, or Terraform and manage all DNS records, including A, CNAME, MX, and TXT records. Users can continue to use the original Unicode domain in browsers while Vultr DNS resolves the Punycode version.