Is the master db aware of user dbs?

Where does SQL Server record the presence/paths of user dbs? I tried following approaches: Approach 1. I restored a master db on svr2 from a backup from svr1 Apprpach 2. I replaced the master db data/log files of svr2 with with copy from svr1 In both approaches, the GUI creates the user dbs on svr2 in recovery pending mode. Hence I want to ask where exactly does sql server store the information about whether user dbs are attached to it and their paths.