How to Fix the 502 Bad Gateway Error (Roblox, Cloudflare)

You might see the “502 Bad Gateway” error after opening a website. This is a connection failure between a server acting as the gateway or proxy and another server in the communication chain. This will cause your internet to be unavailable.

However, this post will introduce the error, its appearance, and how to fix it. Read through this post and fix the problem.

502 Bad Gateway Meaning

Before getting into the causes and solutions section, you might need to know what ”502 Bad Gateway” actually is.

Firstly, what is the gateway? Gateway refers to the networking hardware or software in the telecommunications networks. It controls the data flowing from one discrete network to another to connect different networks. If the gateway doesn’t work, the networks are no longer connected and your web server might not access the internet.

What is “502 Bad Gateway”? It is one of the gateway’s error codes. It indicates that a server acting as a gateway or proxy receives an invalid or faulty response from another server in the communication chain. For example, if a gateway on the network goes wrong, you might encounter the 502 bad gateway when visiting a website.

“502 Bad Gateway” Error Variations

The error might appear in various ways on different websites or web servers. Here are the variations of “502 Bad Gateway”.

• “502 Bad Gateway”
• “502. That’s an error.”
• “502 Bad Gateway nginx”
• “502 Bad Gateway Cloudflare”
• “Error 502 Bad Gateway”
• “502 Bad Gateway Cloudflare-nginx”
• “HTTP 502”
• “502 Service Temporarily Overloaded”
• A blank screen

The looks of this error can be customized by the websites. However, as long as the appeared number is 502, you can tell it’s “502 Bad Gateway”.

What Causes 502 Bad Gateway?

After learning what “502 Bad Gateway” is, you might want to know the causes. Here I list them for you.

Network connection failure: The problematic router or loose cable might affect your network connection. It causes “HTTP 502” when you are streaming on a website.

Firewall blocks: Sometimes the firewall in the computer can detect your browsing as malicious activities. This will also cause “502 Bad Gateway” when you are browsing.

Overloaded website: If the website you are visiting is filled with so many online visitors or attacked by other servers, it is overloaded. However, this will cause the “502 Bad Gateway” error.

Backend server issues: The backend server of the website you’re visiting might get wrong sometimes. Then you can’t get the information from the website which is “502 Bad Gateway”.

Domain name issue: When the website you want to visit has migrated to another hosting provider, your DNS might not have time to resolve the website’s IP address. Finally, it will cause “502 Bad Gateway”.

Related: Fix DNS Server Not Responding Windows 10/11, Mac, PS5/PS4, Xbox

502 Bad Gateway Fix

After learning the causes of “502 Bad Gateway”, you may want to know how to fix it. Here are the 8 solutions.

Check the URL carefully

The form of URLs is strictly limited. If the form of the URL is wrong, you might not access the website, so you can check if you type in the right URL.

(URL form: http://www.example.com/index.html)

Use a VPN to get the IP address

If your IP address is wrong or lost, you may not be able to visit the website. You can download and install a VPN to address the problem. Here I recommend LightningX VPN because:

• It covers 50+ countries with 2,000+ servers. You can choose the IP address you want.
• It has a strong encryption protocol to protect your privacy and data from being leaked.
• It has no bandwidth limitation on your network, so you can smoothly watch the films and shows on Netflix, YouTube, etc.
• It is affordable. You can even have a one-day subscription plan which is not supported by most VPNs.

Price and plan:

• 1 day: $0.99
• 1 month: $5.99 ($0.19/day).
• 3 months+1 month free: $15.99 ($0.13/day).
• 1 year+1 year free: $59.99 ($0.08/day).

Refresh the page

You can simply refresh the website page if its server is overloaded or just has a temporary issue.

You can press the F5 key or right-click the page and tap “Reload” to refresh the page.

Check the server

If you encounter the “502 Bad Gateway” error, it’s may because the website’s server goes wrong. To check if the server is ok, you can use tools like IPVoid, Browserling, TestingBot, etc. These tools allow you to check the URLs and generate the IP addresses.

Related Post: Top 5 IP Generators to Get Unlimited IP Addresses

Taking IPVoid as an example, here are the steps for testing the server.

• Go to the site of IPVoid.
• Click “URL” on the top of the site and the drop-down page will appear.
• Click “CHECK HTTP STATUS CODE” on the drop-down page. You will see “HTTP Status Code Checker”.
• Copy the URL of the website you want to visit and paste it into the HTTP Status Code Checker.
• Tap “Check URLs” below. You will see the HTTP status code under “Check URLs”. If it is “2-”, the website server runs well. However, if the code is “3-”, “4-”, or “5-”, then the website’s server goes wrong. You can only open the website until its server is fixed.

Try a different browser

You can also use a different browser such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Firefox to fix the ”502 Bad Gateway” error. You can delete the browser you’re using and then try to download it again.

Disable browser extension

You can disable the browser extension to fix the issue. Taking Google Chrome as an example, here are the steps.

• Open your Google Chrome.
• Tap the three dots on the top right.
• Choose “Extensions”.
• Switch off the toggle next to the browser. Then your browser extension is successfully switched off.
• Now back to the browser and reload the website’s page.

Tip: You can access the website in incognito mode to see if the 502 bad gateway occurs. If it doesn’t occur, then the cause is your browser extension.

Clear your browser cache

Clearing the browser cache might help you fix the “502 Bad Gateway” error. Taking Google Chrome as an example, here are the steps.

• Tap the three dots on the top right of your browser page.
• Click “History” > “Clear recent history”.

Temporarily disable firewall

• Sometimes the firewall on your computer might take your browsing as a malicious activity. You can temporarily turn off the firewall to fix the problem. Here are the steps.
• Click the Windows button and tap “Settings”.
• Click “Update & Security”.
• Click “Windows Security Center” and you will see “Windows Firewall”.
• Tap “Windows Firewall” and switch off the toggle. Then your firewall is successfully turned off.

Clear DNS cache

You can clear the DNS cache to fix the “502 Bad Gateway” error. Here are the steps.

• Press the Windows and R keys at the same time. You will see a box.
• Type “cmd” in the box and press Enter.
• Type in “ipconfig” or “flushdns” and press Enter. Now your DNS cache is successfully cleared.

Disable plugins and themes in WordPress

You can disable the plugins and themes in WordPress to fix the problem.

• Go to the WordPress dashboard.
• Click “Plugins” on the left of the menu. Then you’ll see “Bulk Actions”.
• Click “Bulk Actions” and choose “Deactivate” on the drop-down menu.

Use a different device

If none of the above methods can solve your problem, you can use a different device to fix the issue.

Tip: You can also adopt these methods to fix “502 Bad Gateway Nginx”.

How to Fix “502 Bad Gateway Roblox”?

If you encounter the “502 Bad Gateway” issue in Roblox, you can adopt the methods above first and then try to delete Site Data & Permission on Roblox. Here are the steps.

• Open Google Chrome and then click on the three dots.
• Click “Settings” > “Privacy and security”
• Tap “Third-party cookies” > “See all site data and permissions”
• Search “roblox.com”.
• Click on the trash icon and tap “Delete”.

How to Fix “502 Bad Gateway Cloudflare”?

By following the general steps above such as clearing the browser cache, reloading the page, or checking DNS servers, you may be able to fix the “502 Bad Gateway” issue on Cloudflare.

However, if you still cannot solve the problem, disable the Cloudflare proxy and go to the help center of Cloudflare to fix the problem. You can provide its support with the time when the error occurred and the website’s URL.

Related: How to Change DNS Server on Windows 10/11? So Easy!

What is the Impact of the “502 Bad Gateway” Error on SEO?

If your site is down for an extended time because of “502 Bad Gateway”, Google might take this error as a site-level issue. Then, your site rankings may be low. Thus, you may need to check the site carefully and address the bad gateway issue to keep your site ranking.

Conclusion

“502 Bad Gateway” is a typical site issue in our life, but it may be caused by many different factors. However, by following the methods above, you may be able to learn what it is and how to fix it. If not, you can go to find a professional’s help.