Is Cloudflare Down?
Cloudflare sits in front of ~20% of all websites. When it goes down, millions of sites become unreachable.
Quick Check
- API Status Check — real-time monitoring
- cloudflarestatus.com — official status
- Try a non-Cloudflare site — rule out your internet
Cloudflare Error Codes
| Code | Meaning | Whose Fault? |
|---|---|---|
| 520 | Unknown error | Origin server |
| 521 | Server down | Origin server |
| 522 | Connection timeout | Origin server |
| 523 | Origin unreachable | DNS/network |
| 524 | Timeout | Origin too slow |
| 525 | SSL handshake failed | SSL mismatch |
Important: 520-526 errors usually mean YOUR origin server has a problem, not Cloudflare. True Cloudflare outages show completely unreachable pages.
What Can Break
| Service | Impact |
|---|---|
| CDN | Sites slow or unreachable |
| DNS (1.1.1.1) | Domains won't resolve |
| Workers | Serverless functions fail |
| Pages | Hosted sites offline |
| R2 | Object storage inaccessible |
Troubleshooting
- Cloudflare or origin? — 520-526 = your server. DNS errors = possibly Cloudflare
- Check regional status — outages are often regional, not global
- Switch DNS — try 8.8.8.8 instead of 1.1.1.1
- Site owners — check dash.cloudflare.com, enable Always Online
-
Developers — test API:
GET https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/user
Why So Many Sites Go Down Together
Cloudflare proxies ~20% of web traffic. When it fails, thousands of unrelated websites fail simultaneously. If multiple sites are down at once, check Cloudflare first.
Get free alerts when Cloudflare or any infrastructure goes down.
Top comments (0)