Code 504

HTTP 504 (Gateway Timeout) is a server error status code indicating that the server, acting as a gateway or proxy, did not receive a timely response from an upstream server. It is distinct from a 502 in that it represents a timeout rather than an invalid response, commonly occurring with slow databases or overloaded backend services.

HTTP 504 errors are identified in server logs and infrastructure monitoring tools such as New Relic, Datadog, or Pingdom. Like other 5xx errors, persistent 504 responses are reported in Google Search Console's Coverage report and can harm crawl efficiency and rankings.