set npm proxy without using http:// before the proxy server name

I have npm installed and have used it a few times but unfortunately I had to change my proxy and I am not able to get it to work again.

here are my past settings:(the ones that worked)

npm config get proxy: http://proxy-foo.foobar.com:8080

npm config get https-proxy: http://proxy-foo.foobar.com:8080

now my proxy is a server name and when I use the proxy in my browser it works fine, but when I set the config in npm it fails with 'getaddrinfo ENOTFOUND'

current settings:

npm config get proxy: http://servername:8080

npm config get https-proxy: http://servername:8080

in my browsers proxy I do not use http:// before the server name and I think this is what is causing it to fail. could this be the problem and if so is there a way to set proxy configs in npm without using http:// before.