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Yes. Adam Rice’s Doom Over DNS project can start the shareware version of DOOM on Windows by retrieving a compressed game WAD and a managed .NET engine from DNS TXT records. PowerShell resolves the records, rebuilds the files in memory, loads the assemblies, and launches the game locally; the WAD is not written to disk.
This is a proof of concept, not a practical replacement for a normal installation. Initial retrieval takes roughly 10–20 seconds, requires about 1,964–1,966 TXT records, needs a DNS zone capable of holding the data, and omits audio. If you want to reproduce it, use Windows 10 or 11, OpenGL, PowerShell 7, a .NET 8 build environment, and a Cloudflare DNS zone with an API token that can edit DNS.
What “Doom through DNS” actually means
DNS normally answers questions such as “which IP address belongs to this hostname?” Doom Over DNS uses a less conventional DNS feature: TXT records can contain arbitrary text. The publisher converts compressed game data into Base64 text, splits it into many chunks, and stores those chunks in TXT records across one or more DNS zones.
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The files that travel through DNS
- The compressed shareware WAD is approximately 1.7 MB, according to Adam Rice’s 2026 figures.
- The managed engine’s DLL bundle is approximately 1.2 MB.
- The project removes audio, so this build runs silently.
- The client keeps the reconstructed data in memory instead of writing the WAD to disk.
What the project is not
It is not browser-based Doom, cloud gaming, or a way to execute Doom on a DNS server. The game still runs on your Windows machine and still needs local graphics support. DNS is being used as an unusual, slow distribution channel.
Requirements and practical limitations
| Requirement or limit | What the project specifies | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10 or Windows 11 | The supplied scripts and instructions are Windows-focused. The repository lists macOS as unsupported. |
| Graphics | OpenGL | The managed engine needs an OpenGL-capable environment before it can display the game. |
| Shell | PowerShell 7 | The standalone launcher is a PowerShell script and uses the modern PowerShell runtime. |
| Build framework | .NET 8 | The managed-doom engine is published for .NET 8 before its assemblies are uploaded. |
| DNS publishing access | A Cloudflare API token with Edit zone DNS permission | The publishing script creates the TXT records automatically. |
| Data volume | About 1,964–1,966 TXT records in the author’s 2026 run | Record limits, propagation, and resolver caching become part of the installation. |
| Audio | Removed | Expect silent gameplay rather than the complete audio experience of a conventional installation. |
| First startup | About 10–20 seconds to resolve and reconstruct | This is network retrieval and decoding time, not a normal local-game launch. |
These figures are Adam Rice’s reported 2026 measurements and project limits, not a universal DNS benchmark. Your resolver, network, zone configuration, and propagation state can change the time and outcome.
Prepare the Windows machine
- Use Windows 10 or 11. Confirm that the machine has a working OpenGL driver. A virtual machine or remote desktop session may expose incomplete graphics support even when Windows itself is compatible.
- Install PowerShell 7. Open a new PowerShell 7 window after installation so that the launcher runs under the intended runtime rather than an older Windows PowerShell session.
- Install the .NET 8 SDK. The SDK is needed to publish the managed-doom engine. The launcher itself retrieves the already-published assemblies, but a reproduction requires you to build the engine before publishing its data.
- Obtain the project source and a legally usable shareware DOOM WAD. Keep the WAD path available for the publishing step. The project described here uses the shareware game data; do not substitute commercial data unless you have the rights to distribute it.
Build the managed engine for .NET 8
Change to the managed-doom engine directory and publish it in Release configuration for .NET 8:
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Before moving on, check that the publish directory contains the managed engine’s assemblies and supporting files. A missing dependency will produce a launcher failure even if every DNS record was created successfully.
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Create DNS storage for the payload
Use an API token, not a broad account credential
Create a Cloudflare API token restricted to the zone or zones that will hold the records, with the Edit zone DNS permission required by the publishing script. Store the token in the environment or credential mechanism expected by the project; do not paste it into a public script, commit it to source control, or print it in a transcript.
Check the zone capacity before publishing
The repository reports that a free zone can hold 185 data chunks, while Pro, Business, and Enterprise zones can hold 3,400. The WAD alone needs about 1,199 chunks. Consequently, a free-tier zone cannot hold the WAD by itself and requires multiple domains or zones. The complete engine-plus-WAD payload is reported at roughly 1,964–1,966 TXT records, so a single zone with the larger stated capacity can hold it, subject to the provider’s current limits and the script’s record layout.
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| Free zone | 185 data chunks | Insufficient for the approximately 1,199 WAD chunks; multiple domains are required even before adding the engine. |
| Pro, Business, or Enterprise zone | 3,400 data chunks | Large enough for the reported approximately 1,964–1,966-record payload, assuming the records are accepted and propagated. |
| WAD only | Approximately 1,199 chunks | Already exceeds the stated free-zone capacity. |
| Full reported payload | Approximately 1,964–1,966 TXT records | Includes the compressed WAD and DLL bundle; the exact count varies slightly in the author’s 2026 report. |
Understand the recurring cost
Adam Rice estimated about $20 per month for a Cloudflare Pro domain in 2026. That is a hosting estimate for the DNS zone, not a fee charged by Doom Over DNS, and it can change with provider pricing, taxes, domain registration, and the number of zones you use. The project’s technical instructions require a DNS zone and API access; any referral or partner terms are separate and should be verified directly with the provider.
Publish the engine and WAD into TXT records
Run the repository’s Publish-DoomOverDNS.ps1 script from PowerShell 7. Supply three categories of input: the .NET publish directory, the path to the shareware WAD, and one or more DNS zones. The repository’s built-in help displays the exact parameter names for the version you downloaded:
Get-Help .Publish-DoomOverDNS.ps1 -DetailedUse the parameter names shown by that help output when you invoke the script. The important distinction is that the publish directory contains the engine build, while the WAD argument points to the game data file; they are separate inputs. If you use multiple zones for a free-tier layout, provide every zone required by the script’s multi-zone option.
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Publishing is an API operation that creates a very large set of TXT records. Keep the PowerShell session open until the script reports completion, and preserve its output if you need to diagnose a missing or rejected record. A partially completed run can leave a zone containing only some chunks, which looks like a client-side decoding problem until the records are checked.
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- Wait for the records to become visible through the resolver you intend to use. DNS propagation and caching can make a newly published zone appear incomplete for a while.
- From PowerShell 7, run the launcher with the primary zone name:
.Start-DoomOverDNS.ps1 -PrimaryZone 'example.com'Replace example.com with the primary zone used by your publication. The launcher uses PowerShell’s Resolve-DNSName to retrieve the TXT records, rebuilds the payload in memory, loads the assemblies, and starts the local game.
Use a specific resolver when local DNS is stale
If the records have not propagated to your default resolver, specify a resolver explicitly, such as Cloudflare’s public resolver:
.Start-DoomOverDNS.ps1 -PrimaryZone 'example.com' -DnsServer '1.1.1.1'This does not bypass missing records or an unfinished publication. It only tells the launcher which DNS server to query. If the authoritative zone has not accepted a record, changing resolvers will not repair it.
What a successful first launch looks like
Expect roughly 10–20 seconds for DNS resolution and reconstruction under the author’s 2026 estimate, followed by a local game window. The game is silent because audio was removed. The payload should not appear as a conventional WAD file on disk; the launcher’s design is to keep the reconstructed data in memory.
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Why DNS makes this slow and fragile
TXT records are text, so binary game data must be encoded and split before publication, then decoded and reassembled after retrieval. Nearly two thousand records introduce more opportunities for propagation delays, resolver caching, API throttling, misordered chunks, and incomplete publication than a normal file copy.
DNS also was not designed as a bulk file-storage protocol. Adam Rice describes DNS as almost 45 years old and says it was designed to map hostnames to IP addresses, not to store files. The project is therefore deliberately inefficient: it demonstrates what the protocol can carry, not a sensible way to distribute a 3 MB game payload.
Troubleshoot common failures
The script is not recognized
- Confirm that you are running PowerShell 7, not an unrelated shell.
- Run the script with an explicit relative path, such as
.Start-DoomOverDNS.ps1. - If execution policy blocks scripts, review your organization’s policy and use the least-permissive, documented setting that allows this script. Do not disable security controls globally just to run a demonstration.
DNS lookups return NXDOMAIN or no TXT data
- Verify the primary zone spelling and that the records were published to that zone.
- Query the authoritative provider or the resolver specified with
-DnsServerto distinguish propagation from a wrong zone. - Wait for propagation and resolver caches to expire before assuming the payload is corrupt.
Only part of the payload resolves
- Review the publisher’s output for API errors, rejected records, or an interrupted run.
- Check whether the selected zone exceeded its chunk capacity. A free zone’s stated 185-chunk limit cannot hold the approximately 1,199 WAD chunks, so one free zone is not enough.
- If you used several zones, confirm that every zone was supplied to the publishing step and that the primary zone points to the intended layout.
The API publish step fails
- Confirm that the token is valid, scoped to the correct zone, and has Edit zone DNS permission.
- Check that the token has not expired or been revoked and that the account can edit the selected zone.
- Run the script’s help output to verify parameter names and paths before retrying.
The game window does not open
- Check the OpenGL driver and try the same machine locally rather than through a graphics-limited remote session.
- Confirm that the .NET 8 publish directory contains all required assemblies and that the publication did not mix framework versions.
- Separate graphics failures from DNS failures by confirming that all records resolve and reconstruction completes before investigating rendering.
The game has no sound
That is expected for this project. Audio was deliberately removed from the payload, so silence is not evidence that the WAD failed to load.
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| Characteristic | Doom Over DNS | Normal local installation |
|---|---|---|
| Startup path | Resolve and reconstruct roughly 10–20 seconds in the author’s 2026 estimate, then launch locally. | Reads already-installed files; no universal startup time is stated. |
| Files on disk | The WAD is reconstructed and loaded in memory rather than written to disk. | Game files are normally stored locally. |
| Platform support | Windows 10/11, PowerShell 7, and OpenGL; macOS is listed as unsupported by the repository. | Depends on the chosen port and operating system. |
| Audio and completeness | Audio is removed, so the game runs silently. | Not inherently limited by this project’s audio removal. |
| Distribution mechanism | Approximately 1,964–1,966 DNS TXT records, Base64 chunks, resolver behavior, and propagation. | Ordinary local files or an installer. |
| Provider cost | Adam Rice estimated about $20 per month for a Cloudflare Pro domain in 2026; free zones require multiple domains for the stated payload. | No DNS hosting is required. |
| Reproducibility | Requires .NET 8 publishing, an API token, a suitable zone layout, and a legally usable shareware WAD. | Requires only the normal engine and game-data installation process. |
The DNS version is worthwhile when the goal is to understand protocol abuse, unusual delivery mechanisms, or the project’s engineering constraints. It is a poor choice when the goal is the fastest, most complete, or most portable way to play.
Security significance: why defenders care
The same properties that make this demonstration interesting can make DNS TXT traffic worth monitoring. TXT records can carry encoded data, resolvers are widely reachable, and a client can reconstruct a payload without downloading a conventional archive from a web server. Doom Over DNS is benign proof-of-concept software, but the transport pattern has defensive relevance because attackers can abuse DNS as a staging or command channel.
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That context does not require turning the project into an operational malware recipe. For defenders, useful questions include:
- Are internal hosts making unusually frequent TXT queries to a newly created or unrelated domain?
- Do responses contain long, high-entropy, Base64-like strings spread across many labels or records?
- Does a single workstation retrieve hundreds or thousands of TXT records in a short period?
- Can DNS logs, resolver policies, and endpoint telemetry identify the process issuing the queries?
Apply organizational policy before running the demonstration on a managed network. A large burst of TXT lookups can trigger monitoring or rate controls even when the payload is harmless.
Cleanup and repeatability
Remove the published records
After experimenting, remove the TXT records and revoke the API token if it was created solely for the demonstration. Leaving thousands of records in a production zone increases administrative noise and can create unexpected DNS costs or lookup behavior.
Keep a reproducible build record
Record the project revision, .NET SDK version, publish command, WAD source, zones used, and the date of publication. The reported record count and timing are associated with Adam Rice’s 2026 implementation; a later revision can change chunking, dependencies, or capacity assumptions.
Do not treat DNS as archival storage
DNS caches and provider limits are operational mechanisms, not durable backup guarantees. Keep the engine source and legally distributable game data in an appropriate storage system, and regard the TXT records as a temporary demonstration artifact.
Bottom line
Doom Over DNS works by encoding compressed Doom data into thousands of DNS TXT records, resolving those records with PowerShell, rebuilding the engine and WAD in memory, and running the game locally. Follow the Windows, OpenGL, PowerShell 7, .NET 8, API-token, and DNS-capacity requirements carefully, and expect a slow, silent proof of concept rather than a practical game installation.
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