Nginx (pronounced 'engine-x') is a high-performance web server, reverse proxy, and load balancer. It is one of the most widely used web servers in the world, known for handling many concurrent connections with low memory usage. It is the default server for many cloud platforms.

What is an Nginx server block?

A server block in Nginx is equivalent to a virtual host in Apache. It defines how Nginx handles requests for a specific domain or IP address. A server block specifies the domain name, port, document root, SSL configuration, and routing rules.

How do I set up HTTPS in Nginx?

Configure a server block listening on port 443 with ssl_certificate and ssl_certificate_key directives pointing to your SSL certificate files (typically obtained from Let's Encrypt with Certbot). Add a separate server block on port 80 to redirect HTTP to HTTPS with a 301 redirect.

Is this Nginx config generator free?

Yes. Completely free with no account required.

Nginx Config Generator

Generate production-ready Nginx configs with SSL, reverse proxy, security headers, rate limiting, redirects and AI optimization.

Basic

Domain

Document Root

Port

Options

Force HTTPS + SSL (Let's Encrypt)WWW → non-WWW redirectGzip CompressionStatic File Caching (1 year, immutable)Reverse Proxy (Node/Next.js/etc.)PHP-FPM Support (PHP 8.2)Security Headers (HSTS, X-Frame, CSP, etc.)Rate Limiting

URL Redirects

Generated Config

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;

    root /var/www/html;
    index index.html index.htm;
    charset utf-8;

    gzip on;
    gzip_vary on;
    gzip_proxied any;
    gzip_comp_level 6;
    gzip_types text/plain text/css text/xml application/json application/javascript application/xml+rss application/atom+xml image/svg+xml;
    gzip_min_length 256;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }

    location ~* \.(js|css|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|ico|svg|woff|woff2|ttf|eot|webp|avif)$ {
        expires 1y;
        add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
        access_log off;
    }
}

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Free Nginx Config Generator — Server Block, HTTPS & Reverse Proxy

Nginx configuration syntax is powerful but requires precise formatting. A single misconfigured directive can cause 502 errors, security vulnerabilities, or performance issues. This free Nginx Config Generator creates complete, production-ready Nginx server block configurations for common scenarios — HTTPS with SSL, reverse proxy to Node.js or other backends, static file serving, PHP-FPM, gzip compression, caching headers, and redirect rules — without requiring deep Nginx expertise.

Select your configuration type (static site, reverse proxy, PHP, WordPress), enter your domain name and document root or upstream address, enable options like HTTPS redirect, gzip, browser caching, and security headers, and get a complete nginx.conf snippet ready to copy into your server block.

The generated configuration follows Nginx best practices including proper worker_connections settings, keepalive timeouts, client body size limits, and security headers (X-Frame-Options, X-XSS-Protection, Content-Security-Policy) for production deployments.

Common Nginx Configurations

Static site. Serve HTML, CSS, JS, and images directly. Configure root directory, index files, and cache-control headers for static assets.

Reverse proxy. Forward requests to a backend application (Node.js on port 3000, Python on 5000, etc.). Configure proxy_pass, proxy headers, timeouts, and WebSocket support.

HTTPS/SSL. Enable TLS with your certificate files, configure HTTP/2, HSTS, and SSL protocols. Generate HTTP→HTTPS redirect block.

WordPress/PHP. Configure FastCGI pass to PHP-FPM, set up WordPress pretty permalinks, configure upload limits, and protect sensitive files like wp-config.php.

Related Tools

.htaccess Generator – Generate Apache redirect rules.
SSL Checker – Verify your SSL certificate after Nginx setup.
Redirect Checker – Test your Nginx redirects are working.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Nginx?

High-performance web server, reverse proxy, and load balancer. Used by millions of sites worldwide.

What is a server block?

Nginx's equivalent of Apache virtual host — defines how requests for a domain are handled.

How to set up HTTPS?

Listen on 443 with ssl_certificate and ssl_certificate_key. Add port 80 block with 301 redirect to HTTPS.

Is this free?

Yes. Completely free, no account needed.