Nginx Static Site Configuration

Serving a static site with Nginx is fast and resource-efficient. Our generator produces a server block with sensible cache-control headers, gzip support, and a proper 404 fallback.

Server block basics

Set root, an index file and try_files so missing paths return a real 404 (or fall back to index.html for a single-page app).

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;
    root /var/www/example.com;
    index index.html;
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

Caching and hidden files

Hashed assets can be cached for a year with the immutable directive. Deny dotfiles such as .git and .env, but keep /.well-known for certificate validation.

Open the Static site generator

Frequently asked questions

How do I serve a single-page app with Nginx?

Use try_files $uri /index.html so client-side routes fall back to the app shell. Static-file 404s then come back as the app; consider serving a real 404 for asset paths.

Where should the site files live?

Anywhere the nginx worker user can read, commonly /var/www/<site>. Never point root at a directory containing source control or secrets.

Guides

• Nginx Reverse Proxy Configuration
• Caddy Reverse Proxy Configuration
• Nginx Static Site Configuration
• Caddy Static Site Configuration
• Nginx + PHP-FPM Configuration
• Caddy + PHP-FPM Configuration
• Nginx SSL/TLS Configuration
• Nginx Load Balancer Configuration
• Caddy Load Balancer Configuration
• Nginx Rate Limiting Configuration
• Nginx Security Headers Configuration
• Caddy Security Headers Configuration
• Nginx Gzip Compression Configuration
• Nginx Caching Configuration
• Caddy HTTPS Redirect Configuration
• Nginx WebSocket Proxy Configuration
• Nginx Content-Security-Policy Header
• Block Bad Bots and Scanners in Nginx
• fail2ban for Nginx
• nginx.conf Best Practices
• Nginx Location Regex Tester
• Deploy Nginx Config with GitHub Actions
• Nginx CORS Headers Configuration
• Nginx Cache-Control Headers Configuration
• Nginx 301 Redirect Map Configuration
• robots.txt, Sitemap and security.txt
• Apache .htaccess Configuration
• Docker Compose and Dockerfile Configuration
• systemd Service and Timer Configuration
• Cron Expression Explainer
• SSH Hardening with sshd_config
• Linux Firewall Rules: ufw, nftables and iptables
• Glob Pattern Tester
• Analysing Nginx Access Logs with awk
• Subnet Mask and CIDR Calculator
• VLAN Configuration on Linux
• Static Routes and Policy Routing on Linux
• NAT and Port Forwarding with nftables
• DHCP Server Configuration
• BIND Zone File Example
• WireGuard Server and Client Configuration
• A Simple IP Plan for Your Home Network