Location Blocks

Location Syntax

location [modifier] pattern { ... }

Modifiers

Modifier	Description	Priority
=	Exact match	1 (highest)
^~	Prefix match (stops regex search)	2
~	Case-sensitive regex	3
~*	Case-insensitive regex	3
(none)	Prefix match	4 (lowest)

Matching Priority

# 1. Exact match (=) - Highest priority
location = /favicon.ico {
    log_not_found off;
}

# 2. Preferential prefix (^~)
location ^~ /images/ {
    # Won't check regex if this matches
}

# 3. Regex (~ or ~*)
location ~* \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif)$ {
    expires 30d;
}

# 4. Prefix match (no modifier)
location /api/ {
    proxy_pass http://backend;
}

# 5. Default (/)
location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
}

Common Patterns

Static Files

# Images with caching
location ~* \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|ico|svg|webp)$ {
    expires 30d;
    add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
}

# CSS/JS with caching
location ~* \.(css|js)$ {
    expires 7d;
    add_header Cache-Control "public";
}

# Fonts
location ~* \.(woff|woff2|ttf|eot|otf)$ {
    expires 365d;
    add_header Access-Control-Allow-Origin *;
}

API Proxy

location /api/ {
    proxy_pass http://localhost:3000/;
    proxy_http_version 1.1;
    proxy_set_header Host $host;
    proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
}

PHP-FPM

location ~ \.php$ {
    include fastcgi_params;
    fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php-fpm.sock;
    fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
    fastcgi_intercept_errors on;
}

Deny Access

# Deny hidden files
location ~ /\. {
    deny all;
}

# Deny sensitive files
location ~* \.(env|log|sql)$ {
    deny all;
}

# Deny directory listing
location /uploads/ {
    autoindex off;
}

try_files Directive

# Try file, then directory, then 404
location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
}

# SPA routing (React, Vue, Angular)
location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
}

# Named location fallback
location / {
    try_files $uri @backend;
}

location @backend {
    proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
}