{"id":1267,"date":"2017-06-20T10:06:04","date_gmt":"2017-06-20T14:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/?p=1267"},"modified":"2025-10-24T10:38:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T14:38:43","slug":"what-is-a-500-error","status":"publish","type":"ht_kb","link":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/what-is-a-500-error\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a 500 Error?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A 500 error means something went wrong with the website\u2019s server, but the server could not be more specific on what was wrong.<\/p>\n<h3>Common Error Messages:<\/h3>\n<pre>500 Internal Server Error<\/pre>\n<pre><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Temporary Error 500<\/span><\/pre>\n<pre><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HTTP 500 - Internal Server Error<\/span><\/pre>\n<pre><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Internal Server Error<\/span><\/pre>\n<p><a name=\"perm\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Possible Reasons for Errors<\/h3>\n<p>Consider these common causes for 500 errors to see if any apply to your situation.<\/p>\n    \t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle  \"  >\r\n    \t\t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle__title\">Permissions<\/div>\r\n    \t\t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle__content\">\r\n    \t\t\t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle__contentwrap\">\r\n    \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">File permissions are assigned to files to establish who can interact with them. If you file permissions are incorrectly configured, it may be keeping your website from being viewable. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Is it happening to me?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is the most common cause of the 500 error. The best way to check is to make sure your files are properly configured in the <\/span><b>Account Control Center<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (ACC). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How to fix<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/file-permissions\/\"><b>File Permissions<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0article to learn about permissions and how you can set new ones in the <\/span><b>ACC<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>You can also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">contact our Support Team,<\/a> and they will help ensure your permissions are set up correctly.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"TO\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n    \t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n    \t\t\t<\/div><!-- \/ht-toggle-content -->\r\n    \t\t<\/div>\r\n    \t\t\n    \t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle  \"  >\r\n    \t\t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle__title\">PHP Time Out<\/div>\r\n    \t\t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle__content\">\r\n    \t\t\t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle__contentwrap\">\r\n    \t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>What is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is a certain amount of time that PHP scripts are allowed to run. If it exceeds that amount of time, it will timeout, causing a 500 error.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oftentimes, PHP scripts are linked to external resources and their response time sometimes causes the timeout. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Is it happening to me?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have recently edited your PHP scripts or you know you include external resources in your PHP scripts, this may be the cause of your 500 error. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How to fix<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you think this is the source of the problem, you should take a look at your site\u2019s PHP scripts. Make sure all the external resources are still available. If you\u2019ve recently edited your PHP scripts, double check them to make sure a script hasn\u2019t gotten stuck in an endless loop.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\n    \t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n    \t\t\t<\/div><!-- \/ht-toggle-content -->\r\n    \t\t<\/div>\r\n    \t\t<a style=\"font-size: 16px;\" name=\"WP\"><\/a><\/p>\n    \t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle  \"  >\r\n    \t\t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle__title\">WordPress Theme\/Plugin Issue<\/div>\r\n    \t\t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle__content\">\r\n    \t\t\t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle__contentwrap\">\r\n    \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes plugins and themes malfunction or develop incompatibility with other features. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Is it happening to me?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you recently downloaded a new theme\/plugin or recently updated your old ones and your website gave you a 500 error afterwards, this could be the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How to fix<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For plugins, try selectively turning off each plugin one by one to figure out which plugin is the culprit. If it\u2019s the theme, you may want to try switching to a different theme.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\n    \t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n    \t\t\t<\/div><!-- \/ht-toggle-content -->\r\n    \t\t<\/div>\r\n    \t\t\n<p><a name=\"hta\"><\/a><\/p>\n    \t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle  \"  >\r\n    \t\t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle__title\">.htaccess<\/div>\r\n    \t\t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle__content\">\r\n    \t\t\t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle__contentwrap\">\r\n    \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>What is it?<\/p>\n<p><b>.htaccess <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is a configuration file that allows the user to turn on\/off features on a server. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Is it happening to me?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your site is new or you have recently edited your <\/span><b>.htaccess<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> file, you should count this as a possibility. <\/span><b>.htaccess<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> files can throw a 500 error if the name is incorrectly typed (a common misspelling is \u201chtaccess\u201d without the period at the beginning) or if the wrong syntax is used in the file. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How to fix<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Double check to make sure the <\/span><b>.htaccess <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">file name is spelled correctly and the period is included at the beginning. Also check the file and make sure all the syntax is in the correct format. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"mem\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n    \t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n    \t\t\t<\/div><!-- \/ht-toggle-content -->\r\n    \t\t<\/div>\r\n    \t\t\n    \t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle  \"  >\r\n    \t\t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle__title\">PHP Memory Limit<\/div>\r\n    \t\t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle__content\">\r\n    \t\t\t\t<div class=\"hts-toggle__contentwrap\">\r\n    \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Websites need memory, just like a computer does. Each application (such as PHP) gets an allotted amount of memory to use. If your PHP scripts exceed that, you will receive a 500 error.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Is it happening to me?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 500 error may mention memory size being exceeded. If it does, there is a good chance that your PHP limit is the issue. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How to fix<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you increase the PHP memory size limit, the problem should be solved. You can modify the memory limit in the <\/span><b>.htaccess<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> file or in server settings. However, we recommend <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/contact\/\">contacting our Support Team<\/a> if you need to change the memory limit in your server settings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\n    \t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n    \t\t\t<\/div><!-- \/ht-toggle-content -->\r\n    \t\t<\/div>\r\n    \t\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A 500 error means something went wrong with the website\u2019s server, but the server could not be more specific on what was wrong. Common Error Messages: 500 Internal Server Error Temporary Error 500 HTTP 500 &#8211; Internal Server Error Internal Server Error Possible Reasons for Errors Consider these common causes&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"ht-kb-category":[24],"ht-kb-tag":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is a 500 Error? - Knowledge Base - Pair Networks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/what-is-a-500-error\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is a 500 Error? - Knowledge Base - Pair Networks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A 500 error means something went wrong with the website\u2019s server, but the server could not be more specific on what was wrong. 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