HTTP 500 — Internal Server Error
5xx Server Error
What it means
The server hit an unhandled error. It is the catch-all for "something broke and we did not anticipate it".
What to do about it
Read the server logs — the status code itself tells you nothing. Common causes are an unhandled exception, a failed database connection, or a null dereference in a code path that was never tested.
Where it sits
500 belongs to the 5xx family: The server failed to fulfil an apparently valid request. The fix is on the server side.
HTTP/1.1 500 Internal Server ErrorChecking it yourself
# see the status code and headers only
curl -sI https://example.com/path
# follow redirects and print each hop
curl -sIL -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code} %{url_effective}\n" https://example.com/path
# JavaScript
const r = await fetch(url);
console.log(r.status, r.statusText);How this code behaves
| Cacheable by default | No — caches must not store this response unless explicit cache headers permit it. |
| Safe to retry | Yes, with backoff. This is a transient condition; retrying the same request is reasonable. |
| Effect on search indexing | Repeated server errors reduce crawl rate and eventually drop pages from the index. |
Returning 500 correctly
# nginx
return 500;
# Express
res.status(500).json({ error: 'Internal Server Error' });
# Go
w.WriteHeader(500)
# Python (Flask)
return jsonify(error='Internal Server Error'), 500;Frequently asked questions
What does HTTP 500 mean?
The server hit an unhandled error. It is the catch-all for "something broke and we did not anticipate it".
How do I fix a 500 error?
Read the server logs — the status code itself tells you nothing. Common causes are an unhandled exception, a failed database connection, or a null dereference in a code path that was never tested.
Is 500 a client or server problem?
A server problem. The request was valid; the server failed to fulfil it. Nothing the client changes will help.