You’ve surfed the internet countless times and are probably familiar with a 504 Gateway Timeout error message. You visit a web page expecting to see the content that you’re looking for, but you get a gateway timeout error message instead. Such a hassle, right?
As a website owner, this should be avoided because it affects your business reputation and it impacts your SEO as well, which could eventually affect your revenue.
Now let’s delve deeper into this gateway message, how it adversely affects your website, and how to fix it.
What is a 504 Gateway Timeout?
A 504 Gateway Timeout is an HTTP status code that means there is a communication issue or problem between servers. This is when a web server didn’t receive a quick or timely response from another server (upstream server) to accomplish a request. In simpler terms, you get this error when the two servers are not communicating in a timely manner.
Variations of HTTP 504 Gateway Timeout Errors
There are different variations of the 504 Gateway Timeout error as websites are allowed to customize this. Here are the common variations of this error message:
- 504 Gateway Timeout
- 504 Gateway Timeout NGINX
- Gateway Timeout Error
- Error 504
- HTTP 504
- HTTP Error 504 – Gateway Timeout
- 504 Error
- The page request got canceled because it took too long to complete
- This page isn’t working – Domain took too long to respond
- 504 Gateway Time-out – The server didn’t respond in time
What causes a 504 Gateway Timeout?
Spam or DDoS attacks
A 504 Gateway Timeout could mean your site’s being hit by bots flooding it with too many requests. These attacks can overwhelm your server by crawling your site at an excessive rate, using up a lot of resources. If it’s a DDoS attack, the abnormal traffic can make your site throw a 504 error.
Check your access logs to spot any IP addresses making a ton of requests. You can block those IPs from accessing your site once you’ve identified them.
Website CDN
Sometimes a CDN service can’t get a quick response from your web server, which could cause a 504 error. To fix this, you might need to bypass or temporarily disable the CDN. Just remember that turning off these services might require DNS changes, which can take some time to go into effect.
To check if the issue is with your hosting server or the CDN, you can bypass the CDN by editing your computer’s hosts file and pointing your domain directly to the hosting server. After making the change, clear your browser cache and reload the site. If it works fine, the problem is likely with the CDN.
In that case, log in to your CDN control panel and temporarily disable the service to resolve the issue.
Firewall blocking requests
Firewalls keep out all the unwanted traffic such as spam and bots. But sometimes, firewalls can mistakenly block legitimate requests, especially if they think the request is a security threat. Whenever this happens, the server can’t respond to the request, and you get a 504 timeout.
So, if you control the server, check your firewall rules to make sure they’re not blocking valid traffic. Maybe your firewalls are set too strict, or there’s a misconfiguration causing them to block legitimate requests.
Website hosting issues
The server that hosts the website may be having problems. This could be anything from a simple misconfiguration to something more serious like hardware failure. When the server isn’t responding in time, the request times out and you get a 504 error.
You could talk with your hosting provider to see if there’s an issue at their end. If you’re managing your own server, check the server’s health and logs for errors. It could be a server crash, or a problem with the software it’s running.
7 Ways to Fix 504 Gateway Timeout
Here are remedies for fixing a 504 Gateway Timeout error:
Refresh the web page
Sometimes, a 504 Gateway Timeout error will show when there’s too much website traffic. In such cases, simply refreshing the web page can resolve the problem.
Aside from website traffic, overloaded web servers are also the reason for this error. What you can do is access the site by using a different browser. You can try this method after reloading or refreshing your web page.
Double-check your proxy server settings
Proxy servers serve as a gateway between a device and the internet. It’s used to enhance the user’s privacy, enhance performance for users by caching frequently accessed web pages, restrict access to certain websites, and access content that’s specific to a certain region only.
Incorrect proxy settings can also cause connectivity issues that result in the 504 error message. Check to see if your proxy server settings are correct then revise it or disable it. Reload the page once you’re done.
Look for DNS issues
Another potential cause of a 504 Gateway Timeout error is DNS issues. This can happen when you’ve recently changed hosting providers or servers. What you can do is wait for the domain’s DNS records to propagate completely. You can use a DNS checker to see if your domain name has propagated globally already.
Restart network devices
Restarting your network devices helps refresh the connection between the web server and the upstream server. To improve your network or internet connection and resolve the error message, follow these steps:
- You should have a router from your internet service provider. Unplug its power cord from the outlet.
- Wait for a couple of seconds.
- Plug the power cord again.
- Wait for the network device to finish turning on.
Once you’ve completed all the steps above, it’s time to visit the website with the error to see if it worked.
Check your WordPress plugins and themes and if you have a corrupted WordPress database
Broken or faulty plugins and themes can cause a 504 error. To check if a plugin is causing the issue, you can temporarily disable the working plugins on your WordPress site by heading to the Plugins section on your WordPress admin dashboard. Refresh the page and check if it worked. If the error goes away, you can re-enable each plugin one at a time until you find the plugin that is causing the issue.
Similarly, a corrupted WordPress database can also cause a 504 error. Some of its causes include a server interruption, a hardware failure on the server where you host your WordPress website, and a crashed server. What you can do is use a WordPress plugin for the database repair or use phpMyAdmin to remedy this.
Locate and fix faulty firewall configurations
Firewalls protect your network from unauthorized access or malicious attacks, but they can also block or delay the response from the upstream server which causes the 504 error. If you encounter this error, you can try deactivating your firewall temporarily to access the website you’re trying to reach.
Contact your hosting provider
If you’re having trouble resolving the 504 error by yourself, you can contact your hosting provider for assistance. Your web host should provide a support team who can help you diagnose the root cause of the error and provide you with a solution.
How to prevent 504 Gateway Timeout Errors
Preventing 504 errors is pretty simple, and here’s how:
Optimize your server
Slow or overloaded servers are one of the most common causes of 504 errors. You want to make sure your server is properly set up to handle traffic. This could mean upgrading your hosting plans if your site’s getting more visitors than usual. Updating your software to their latest versions also helps avoid bugs that can slow things down.
Implement load balancing
A load balancer can distribute traffic evenly across multiple servers. Even during traffic surges, it guarantees that your website remains responsive. Reducing the risk of a timeout this way can help maintain a great user experience by balancing the user traffic across different servers.
Monitor and maintain backend services
Many 504 errors stem from backend services like databases or external APIs. You can optimize database queries and check for any potential issues with third-party services that your site depends on. Catch problems before they lead to a timeout error by staying on top of these systems.
Regular maintenance and updates
Routine maintenance is key to preventing server issues. It includes performing regular software updates, patching security vulnerabilities, and checking server logs for errors. You can catch issues early and avoid unexpected downtime by proactively maintaining your infrastructure that leads to 504 errors.
Does a 504 Error impact SEO?
Yes, a 504 error impacts SEO. You may already be familiar with web spiders or crawlers that crawl a website’s content for indexing. When these spiders crawl your website page and find a prolonged 504 error of 6+ hours or more, they’ll take this error seriously and it’ll take a hit at your SEO. So, if your website currently has a 504 Gateway Timeout error, it’s best to fix it immediately.
504 Gateway Timeout vs 502 Bad Gateway
A 504 Gateway Timeout and a 502 bad gateway are both HTTP status codes but indicate different errors.
As previously mentioned, a 504 Gateway Timeout means a web server didn’t receive a quick or timely response from another server (upstream server) to accomplish a request. In short, communication is slow between two servers.
On the other hand, a 502 bad gateway means that the web server received an invalid or null response from the upstream server. This means that the web server wasn’t able to communicate with the server (upstream server) where the website content is hosted. This usually happens when there’s a server overload, firewall blocks, domain name issues (if you’ve recently transferred web hosts or servers; it takes time for the DNS records to propagate), network equipment problems, or browser issues.
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A delay in resolving the 504 Gateway Timeout error can negatively impact your website’s user experience and even result in lost traffic and revenue. That’s why it’s critical to solve the issue immediately. This guide will equip you with the necessary knowledge to identify and eliminate any local causes of the error and investigate possible server-end issues that might be causing it.
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