What Is 5xx Server Error? What Does It Mean?

Do you see the 5xx server error code on the internet? If you are, you might be wondering what is 5xx server error. Simply put, a 5xx server error code means that the server has failed to complete your request.

These are HTTP status codes, and they indicate the server’s response to the request of the clients. These codes have three digits, and they confirm if it has met the request of the user or not. The first digit of the code may range from 1xx to 5xx, which signifies the response class. 

If the 5xx server error has been a bother to you, then this article might help you. Here I have answered all the queries and helped you fix this error code. 

What Is 5xx Server Error?

When a server is unable to process the request of a visitor, a 5xx code occurs. In shortcut, the server has an error, and it cannot process the request by the users. The 5xx server error codes also suggest that the server has detected its own error. 

You must remember that unless it’s a response to a HEAD request, the server will include an explanation regarding what went wrong. The server also explains if the issue is temporary or if it will get resolved soon. 

Read more: Can A Website Function Properly Without Cookies?

Methods to Identify 5xx Errors 

The following are some of the methods to identify when your website returns a 5xx server error: 

1. Server Logs 

Server logs are one of the most reliable methods of identifying 5xx errors. The web servers like Apache, Nginx, or IIS produce logs that reflect the activities and errors of the server. These logs usually indicate what may have caused the 5xx error, for instance, server crashes, overloads, or misconfigurations. 

How to do it: 

• View error logs on your server – usually in /var/log/ for Linux-based servers or within the Event Viewer for Windows-based servers. 

• Locate entries which contain the time of the error and the particular 5xx error code. 

• Look through the logs for messages indicating a problem (for example, “out of memory”, “too many requests”, or “server timeout”). 

2. Use Website Monitoring Tools 

There are many online monitoring tools that keep checking on your website’s health and then alerting you when it encounters a 5xx error. The tools monitor your website’s uptime and can alert you to any 5xx errors in real-time. 

How to do this: 

• Tools for using: Pingdom, UptimeRobot, StatusCake, or New Relic 

• Alerts: Set up your system to send notifications- by email or SMS-when it discovers a 5xx error. 

• These tools also provide reports and logs that can be helpful to identify when and where the error occurred. 

3. Google Search Console Analysis 

Google Search Console is a free tool for website owners to monitor the performance of their site in search results. If Googlebot encounters a 5xx error while crawling your site, it will report these issues in the Crawl Errors section. 

How to do it: 

• Login to Google Search Console. 

• Step on Coverage or Crawl Errors Report 

• From the “Server errors”, locate if there are 5xx error 

• Specific URL of the error might reflect specific page is affected 

4. Through Browser 

In some occasions, you might try a webpage manually if it is causing a 5xx error. If such a page is down or under a server, the browser shows an error message like “500 Internal Server Error” or “502 Bad Gateway.” Sometimes, this simple check may help you spot the error on your webpage, but with this method, you will hardly know what it really is because of the complexity of the terms. 

 How to do this: 

• Open your browser and type in the URL of the webpage you will test . 

• Once a 5xx error happens, the browser should show the error page with details of the failure server 

5. HTTP Status Code Checker Tools

If you want to scan many pages or track your site’s health over time, then HTTP status code checker tools will help identify 5xx errors across the whole site. These let you scan for server errors fast and know which URLs return 5xx codes. 

How to do this: 

• You can check on your website’s HTTP status codes by using these tools: HTTPStatus.io, CheckMyLinks or Screaming Frog SEO Spider. 

•These tools will then give you a report of all the pages on your site and tell you where the 5xx errors are. 

6. Analyzing Website Performance by Using Browser Developer Tools 

If you have intermittent 5xx errors on websites, you can use your browser’s developer tools to detect problems on the server-side. You can look at the network requests in real-time to see if it returns a 5xx error when you attempt to load a page. 

How to do this:  

• Open the developer tools for your browser using either F12 or right-click on the page > Inspect Element. 

• Open the Network tab and refresh the page 

• Scour the requests for 5xx status codes – generally coloured red 

• Check the headers and body of the response for more details 

7. Monitor Server Resource Usage 

5xx errors may come up if your server gets overloaded with too many requests or runs out of resources like CPU or memory. Monitoring of the server’s resources and server performance analysis helps identify resource problems that may be causing 5xx errors. 

How to do this: 

• Use the server monitoring tool which may include Top, htop, or New Relic, to monitor the use of CPU and memory. 

• Identify where traffic spiking or spikes in resource consumption may be causing 5xx errors. 

Types Of 5xx Error Codes

I think now you understand what is 5xx server error. There is a long range of server error codes. As a webmaster, it is crucial that you know about all the server codes. It should help you fix the issue. Here are different types of 5xx server error codes –

• 500: Internal Server Error Codes 

This 5xx status code suggests that something is wrong with the website’s server. But, the server is not specific about the exact problem that occurred.

• 501: Not Implemented 

This 5xx status code appears when the server running the website does not understand the HTTP method that the client used. The code usually means availability in the future. 

• 502: Bad Gateway

This error suggests that the server that was acting as a proxy or gateway got an invalid response from another upstream server. 

• 503: Service Unavailable 

This error code is not that problematic. When the server cannot handle your request because of a temporary overload or any maintenance-related issue with the server, you see this error code. Google does not deindex your page or penalize it for this error code. 

• 504: Gateway Time Out

Sometimes the server cannot complete the request of the user because of an untimely response from another server; you see a 504 server error code.

• 505: HTTP Version Not Supported 

Users get this error status code when the server cannot support the HTTP protocol the user used during their request on the browser. 

• 506: Variant Also Negotiates

The code cites an internal error in server configuration. It happens during the negotiation of the requested content. 

• 507: Insufficient Storage 

Users see this server error code when the server is unable to create or modify a requested resource due to insufficient storage. Similar to the 503 server error code, this is also another temporary server error. 

• 508: Loop Detected

When trying to process a request, the server often finds an infinite loop. In such a situation, the server will show you that the operation has failed. 

• 510: Not Extendable

Users will see this error when the browser is out of the necessary extension to understand the request. 

• 511: Network Authentication Required 

When a client has to authenticate for gaining network access, they see this error. The response representation contains a link to a resource allowing the users to send their credentials.

Read more: SSL Certificates 101 – Everything You Need to Know

How To Fix 5xx Server Error Codes?

Now that you know what is 5xx server error, you want to know how to fix it. Here are the tips to help you to fix 5xx server errors –

1. Reloading the page should be your first step toward fixing this issue. 
2. Checking the error log on the site can also help. 
3. Removing cookies might also help. 
4. You should consider any recent upgrades you have done on your system. 
5. Sometimes recently installed plugins might be the underlying reason. You need to roll back recently installed plugins till the issue is solved. 
6. Your latest upgraded software might also be the culprit. You can try uninstalling and reinstalling recently upgraded software. 
7. If none of these work, you can contact your server or host. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

I think you are clear about what 5xx server error code is. However, I have answered some relatable questions to offer a complete solution to your issue. You can read them here –

1. How Long Does 5xx Error Last?

A server error does not last long. Usually, the temporary server errors resolve within one hour to a maximum of twelve hours. During the time of maintenance, you cannot access or use the website. 

2. Is 5xx Server Error Bad?

Yes, in terms of SEO, 5xx errors are harmful. These errors affect the indexing, ranking, and crawling of a website by the search engine. The most common of these errors are usually 500 and 503 errors. 

3. How Do I Fix Server Error?

If you want to fix this 5xx server error, then the below-mentioned steps can be very helpful –

• You can refresh the page. 
• Deleting the cookies of your browser also works. 
• Deactivating some newly acquired themes or plugins can also work. 

Bottom Line

This article has the simplest answer to your query – what is 5xx server error? While addressing the problem, I have also added the reasons why these errors appear. Usually, you can solve most of these errors by yourself by following the steps mentioned here. However, if these errors still remain unresolved, you can count on your server or host to solve them for you.

However, for more queries, you can use our comment box. We will try to get back to you as soon as possible.

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