diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/networking/dnschain.nix b/nixos/modules/services/networking/dnschain.nix
index f17f8c832ee..b6492996057 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/networking/dnschain.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/networking/dnschain.nix
@@ -3,23 +3,28 @@
 with lib;
 
 let
-  cfg = config.services;
+  cfgs = config.services;
+  cfg  = cfgs.dnschain;
 
-  dnschainConf = pkgs.writeText "dnschain.conf" ''
+  dataDir  = "/var/lib/dnschain";
+  username = "dnschain";
+
+  configFile = pkgs.writeText "dnschain.conf" ''
     [log]
-    level=info
+    level = info
 
     [dns]
-    host = 127.0.0.1
-    port = 5333
+    host = ${cfg.dns.address}
+    port = ${toString cfg.dns.port}
     oldDNSMethod = NO_OLD_DNS
-    # TODO: check what that address is acutally used for
-    externalIP = 127.0.0.1
+    externalIP = ${cfg.dns.address}
 
     [http]
-    host = 127.0.0.1
-    port=8088
-    tlsPort=4443
+    host = ${cfg.api.hostname}
+    port = ${toString cfg.api.port}
+    tlsPort = ${toString cfg.api.tlsPort}
+
+    ${cfg.extraConfig}
   '';
 
 in
@@ -32,28 +37,81 @@ in
 
     services.dnschain = {
 
-      enable = mkOption {
-        type = types.bool;
-        default = false;
+      enable = mkEnableOption ''
+        DNSChain, a blockchain based DNS + HTTP server.
+        To resolve .bit domains set <literal>services.namecoind.enable = true;</literal>
+        and an RPC username/password.
+      '';
+
+      dns.address = mkOption {
+        type = types.str;
+        default = "127.0.0.1";
         description = ''
-          Whether to run dnschain. That implies running
-          namecoind as well, so make sure to configure
-          it appropriately.
+          The IP address that will be used to reach this machine.
+          Leave this unchanged if you do not wish to directly expose the DNSChain resolver.
+        '';
+      };
+
+      dns.port = mkOption {
+        type = types.int;
+        default = 5333;
+        description = ''
+          The port the DNSChain resolver will bind to.
+        '';
+      };
+
+      api.hostname = mkOption {
+        type = types.str;
+        default = "0.0.0.0";
+        description = ''
+          The hostname (or IP address) the DNSChain API server will bind to.
+        '';
+      };
+
+      api.port = mkOption {
+        type = types.int;
+        default = 8080;
+        description = ''
+          The port the DNSChain API server (HTTP) will bind to.
+        '';
+      };
+
+      api.tlsPort = mkOption {
+        type = types.int;
+        default = 4433;
+        description = ''
+          The port the DNSChain API server (HTTPS) will bind to.
+        '';
+      };
+
+      extraConfig = mkOption {
+        type = types.lines;
+        default = "";
+        example = ''
+          [log]
+          level = debug
+        '';
+        description = ''
+          Additional options that will be appended to the configuration file.
         '';
       };
 
     };
 
-    services.dnsmasq = {
-      resolveDnschainQueries = mkOption {
-        type = types.bool;
-        default = false;
-        description = ''
-          Resolve <literal>.bit</literal> top-level domains
-          with dnschain and namecoind.
-        '';
-      };
+    services.dnsmasq.resolveDNSChainQueries = mkOption {
+      type = types.bool;
+      default = false;
+      description = ''
+        Resolve <literal>.bit</literal> top-level domains using DNSChain and namecoin.
+      '';
+    };
 
+    services.pdns-recursor.resolveDNSChainQueries = mkOption {
+      type = types.bool;
+      default = false;
+      description = ''
+        Resolve <literal>.bit</literal> top-level domains using DNSChain and namecoin.
+      '';
     };
 
   };
@@ -61,48 +119,47 @@ in
 
   ###### implementation
 
-  config = mkIf cfg.dnschain.enable {
+  config = mkIf cfg.enable {
 
-    services.namecoind.enable = true;
+    services.dnsmasq.servers = optionals cfgs.dnsmasq.resolveDNSChainQueries
+      [ "/.bit/127.0.0.1#${toString cfg.dns.port}"
+        "/.dns/127.0.0.1#${toString cfg.dns.port}"
+      ];
 
-    services.dnsmasq.servers = optionals cfg.dnsmasq.resolveDnschainQueries [ "/.bit/127.0.0.1#5333" ];
-
-    users.extraUsers = singleton
-      { name = "dnschain";
-        uid = config.ids.uids.dnschain;
-        extraGroups = [ "namecoin" ];
-        description = "Dnschain daemon user";
-        home = "/var/lib/dnschain";
-        createHome = true;
+    services.pdns-recursor.forwardZones = mkIf cfgs.pdns-recursor.resolveDNSChainQueries
+      { bit = "127.0.0.1:${toString cfg.dns.port}";
+        dns = "127.0.0.1:${toString cfg.dns.port}";
       };
 
-    systemd.services.dnschain = {
-        description = "Dnschain Daemon";
-        after = [ "namecoind.target" ];
-        wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
-        path = [ pkgs.openssl ];
-        preStart = ''
-          # Link configuration file into dnschain HOME directory
-          if [ "$(${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/realpath /var/lib/dnschain/.dnschain.conf)" != "${dnschainConf}" ]; then
-              rm -rf /var/lib/dnschain/.dnschain.conf
-              ln -s ${dnschainConf} /var/lib/dnschain/.dnschain.conf
-          fi
+    users.extraUsers = singleton {
+      name = username;
+      description = "DNSChain daemon user";
+      home = dataDir;
+      createHome = true;
+      uid = config.ids.uids.dnschain;
+      extraGroups = optional cfgs.namecoind.enable "namecoin";
+    };
 
-          # Create empty namecoin.conf so that dnschain is not
-          # searching for /etc/namecoin/namecoin.conf
-          if [ ! -e /var/lib/dnschain/.namecoin/namecoin.conf ]; then
-              mkdir -p /var/lib/dnschain/.namecoin
-              touch /var/lib/dnschain/.namecoin/namecoin.conf
-          fi
-        '';
-        serviceConfig = {
-          Type = "simple";
-          User = "dnschain";
-          EnvironmentFile = config.services.namecoind.userFile;
-          ExecStart = "${pkgs.dnschain}/bin/dnschain --rpcuser=\${USER} --rpcpassword=\${PASSWORD} --rpcport=8336";
-          ExecReload = "${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/kill -HUP $MAINPID";
-          ExecStop = "${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/kill -KILL $MAINPID";
-        };
+    systemd.services.dnschain = {
+      description = "DNSChain daemon";
+      after    = optional cfgs.namecoind.enable "namecoind.target";
+      wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
+
+      serviceConfig = {
+        User = "dnschain";
+        Restart = "on-failure";
+        ExecStart = "${pkgs.dnschain}/bin/dnschain";
+      };
+
+      preStart = ''
+        # Link configuration file into dnschain home directory
+        configPath=${dataDir}/.dnschain/dnschain.conf
+        mkdir -p ${dataDir}/.dnschain
+        if [ "$(realpath $configPath)" != "${configFile}" ]; then
+          rm -f $configPath
+          ln -s ${configFile} $configPath
+        fi
+      '';
     };
 
   };