In short
The HTTP status code is the server's three-digit answer to every request. The first digit immediately tells you the direction: 2xx all good, 3xx redirect, 4xx problem with the request, 5xx problem on the server.
The five classes of status codes
- 1xx - Informational: interim messages you rarely see in everyday use.
- 2xx - Success: the request was processed successfully, for example 200 OK.
- 3xx - Redirection: the content is located at another address.
- 4xx - Client errors: the request cannot be answered as sent - for example because the page is missing or a login is required.
- 5xx - Server errors: the request was fine, but something went wrong on the server while processing it.
Redirects (3xx)
- 301 Moved Permanently - moved permanently, the most important redirect for moves and SEO
- 302 Found / 307 Temporary Redirect - temporary redirect
- 304 Not Modified - the browser may use its cached copy; not an error, but intended caching
Client errors (4xx)
- 401 Unauthorized - login required
- 403 Forbidden - access denied
- 404 Not Found - page not found
- 410 Gone - page permanently removed
- 429 Too Many Requests - too many requests in a short time
Server errors (5xx)
- 500 Internal Server Error - general error during processing
- 502 Bad Gateway - invalid response from an upstream server
- 503 Service Unavailable - temporarily unavailable, for example due to maintenance
- 504 Gateway Timeout - the server waited too long for a response
How to find the status code of a page
- In the browser: open the developer tools (F12), switch to the "Network" tab and reload the page. The "Status" column shows the code of every request.
- On the command line:
curl -I https://www.muster.de/- In the log files: the access logs of your website contain the status code of every request, and the error logs the cause of 5xx errors: How do I read my log files?
We are happy to help
Stuck with an error? Tell us the affected address, the status code and the time it occurred - our support team will be glad to help: contact support.