Nginx Directives API Reference

`Directives`

5 methods

Core, http, server and location directives.

server { listen port; server_name name; ... }

Defines a virtual server block listening on a port for one or more hostnames.

Name	Type	Description
listen	string	Address:port or unix socket.
server_name	string	Hostname(s) matched against the Host header.

void

nginx

server {
  listen 80;
  server_name api.example.com;
}

location [ = | ~ | ~* | ^~ ] uri { ... }

Matches request URIs and applies directives within the block; modifiers control match priority.

Name	Type	Description
modifier	string	= exact, ~ regex case-sensitive, ~* regex case-insensitive, ^~ prefix priority.
uri	string	URI prefix or regular expression to match.

void

nginx

location ~* \.(png|jpg|css|js)$ {
  expires 1h;
}

proxy_pass URL;

Forwards the request to an upstream server, optionally inheriting the original URI.

Name	Type	Description
URL	string	Upstream URL such as http://127.0.0.1:3000 or a named upstream.

void

nginx

location /api/ {
  proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000/;
}

return code [text | URL];

Stops processing and returns the given HTTP status code, optionally with text or a redirect URL.

Name	Type	Description
code	integer	HTTP status code, e.g. 301, 404, 200.
text	string	Response body or redirect URL.

void

nginx

return 301 https://example.com$request_uri;

try_files file ... uri | =code;

Checks the existence of files in order and serves the first found, otherwise falls back to a URI or code.

Name	Type	Description
file	string	File path relative to root; $uri may be used.
uri	string	Fallback internal URI.

void

nginx

try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;