🤷
520
Web Server Returns Unknown Error

Example HTTP Response

HTTP Response
HTTP/1.1 520 Web Server Returns Unknown Error
Server: cloudflare
Content-Type: text/html

<html><body>Web server is returning an unknown error</body></html>
Common Causes
  • Origin server returned empty or malformed response
  • Origin sent invalid HTTP headers
  • Origin crashed while generating response
  • Origin returned a response violating HTTP protocol
  • PHP Fatal Error or similar backend crash
  • Origin's web server misconfiguration
Technical Details

What does this mean?

The server just said something completely incomprehensible! Cloudflare asked your origin server a question and got back gibberish. It's like asking for directions and getting a reply in ancient hieroglyphics.

Technical Definition

The origin web server returned an unexpected or unrecognized response to Cloudflare.

Code Snippets

Ready-to-use code for returning this HTTP status in your application:

Node.js
// Express.js
app.get('/example', (req, res) => {
  res.status(520).json({
    error: 'Web Server Returns Unknown Error',
    message: 'Your error message here'
  });
});

// Native HTTP
const http = require('http');

http.createServer((req, res) => {
  res.writeHead(520, { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' });
  res.end(JSON.stringify({
    error: 'Web Server Returns Unknown Error',
    message: 'Your error message here'
  }));
}).listen(3000);