4xx Client error
HTTP 403 Forbidden
The server understood the request but refuses to fulfill it. If credentials were sent, they aren’t enough, and logging in again won’t help. A server can also answer 404 instead, to hide that the resource exists.
Defined in RFC 9110, section 15.5.4(opens in a new tab)
//_01 Uptime checks
Is 403 up or down for a monitor?
Uptimecheck HTTP monitor
Default settings
Down. It is outside the default 200–399 range, so a monitor reports an outage once a second check confirms it. If 403 is the answer you expect from that URL, add it to the monitor’s expected status codes.
Is it down? checker
Free, at /is-it-down/
Up. The checker counts any answer below 500 as the site answering: a 403 comes from a server that is running.
//_02 Causes and fixes
Why you see 403 and what to do
Typical causes
- A web application firewall or bot protection blocking the request.
- Blocked IP addresses or countries.
- File permissions, or a folder without an index file when directory listing is off.
If you run the site
- Check your firewall or CDN’s security events for the request and the rule that blocked it.
- If your monitoring is blocked, allow its addresses and user agent in the firewall.
- Check file ownership and permissions after a deploy or migration.
If you’re a visitor
- Turn off a VPN or proxy and try again; they are often blocked.
- If you should have access, contact the site’s owner.
Monitoring blocked by your firewall? How to allow Uptimecheck through a firewall
Know the moment your site stops answering as it should
An Uptimecheck monitor requests your page as often as every minute, checks the status code against the ones you expect, confirms a failure with a second check and then alerts you.
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Questions
What does HTTP 403 mean?
The server understood the request but refuses to fulfill it. If credentials were sent, they aren’t enough, and logging in again won’t help. A server can also answer 404 instead, to hide that the resource exists.
Does an uptime monitor count 403 as down?
Down. It is outside the default 200–399 range, so a monitor reports an outage once a second check confirms it. If 403 is the answer you expect from that URL, add it to the monitor’s expected status codes.
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