title: When should I answer NS queries in the ANSWER vs AUTHORITY section?
body: <p>Context: I'm writing an authoritative DNS name server.</p>
  <p>When I receive an <code>NS</code> query, should I answer in the <code>ANSWER</code> section or the <code>AUTHORITY</code> section?</p>
  <p>This is the behavior I have observed:</p>
  <ul>
  <li>queries to a recursive server always answer in <code>ANSWER</code></li>
  <li>queries to an authoritative server for a zone that server serves, answer in <code>ANSWER</code>
  <ul>
  <li>ex: I query <code>ns1.example.com</code> for <code>example.com</code></li>
  </ul>
  </li>
  <li>queries to an authoritative server for a zone delegated to another server, answer in <code>AUTHORITY</code>
  <ul>
  <li>ex: I query <code>ns1.example.com</code> for <code>delegated.example.com</code></li>
  </ul>
  </li>
  </ul>
  <p>Setting aside the behavior of recursive resolvers, it seems like the rule is &quot;If you are not authoritative for the zone in the query (i.e., you have delegated it to another server), never put anything in the <code>ANSWER</code> section&quot;.</p>
  <p>Do I have this correct?</p>