5xx Server error
HTTP 506 Variant Also Negotiates
A server configuration error in transparent content negotiation, an experimental feature: the version chosen for the client is itself set up to negotiate, which would loop.
Defined in RFC 2295, section 8.1(opens in a new tab)
//_01 Uptime checks
Is 506 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 506 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/
Down. A 5xx means the server, or something in front of it, failed to answer.
//_02 Causes and fixes
Why you see 506 and what to do
Typical causes
- A misconfigured content negotiation setup.
If you run the site
- Fix the negotiation configuration so a chosen variant doesn’t negotiate again.
If you’re a visitor
- Nothing to do in a browser.
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 506 mean?
A server configuration error in transparent content negotiation, an experimental feature: the version chosen for the client is itself set up to negotiate, which would loop.
Does an uptime monitor count 506 as down?
Down. It is outside the default 200–399 range, so a monitor reports an outage once a second check confirms it. If 506 is the answer you expect from that URL, add it to the monitor’s expected status codes.
Downtime is obsolete.
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