Hostname

A hostname is a human-readable synonym for an IP address. While an IP address consists of four numbers from 0 to 255 separated by periods, a hostname allows combinations of letters, digits, and the minus sign (sometimes called a dash), followed by a period and a domain name. This permits hostnames that are easier to recall than raw IP addresses. Hostnames are familiar to users of the World Wide Web, even if the term "hostname" is not. For example, the hostname of the computer that hosts NWN Wiki is "nwn.wikia.com". When a browser is asked to view "nwn.wikia.com", DNS servers are queried to translate that hostname into a raw IP address.

Some Neverwinter Nights servers have gone through the process to register hostnames for their IP addresses. This can make it easier for new players to connect to these servers, especially since GameSpy ceased its listing services for Neverwinter Nights. A hostname can be used in place of an IP address when using the game's direct connect functionality. Note that a colon and port number are not part of an IP address, so they would be appended to a hostname just as they are appended to an IP address when directly connecting.