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Broken Link Status Codes

Every link in a website will return a status code. Typically, links with a 404 status code should be prioritized for updating.

Updated yesterday

When a link is clicked, a web browser will receive a status code and display content based on the status code.

DubBot allows users to Exclude Broken Links Reported by Reason (or Response Code). Broken links reported by DubBot will usually display a status code of 400 or greater.

DubBot uses bot technology to automate the testing of broken links. In some cases, web servers and some web pages have been programmed to refuse connection to a bot.

Often these pages will return a 401 (Unauthorized) or 403 (Forbidden) status code. While this information could be useful to some users, it may overwhelm reporting and action on actual issues. For these users, DubBot allows for filtering by status code.

The following status codes are enabled by default in DubBot.

  • HTTP_400: Bad Request > server cannot process the request due to bad syntax, invalid request message framing, sometimes password needed

  • HTTP_401: Unauthorized > page is password protected

  • HTTP_402: Payment Required

  • HTTP_403: Forbidden > insufficient permissions to access this page

  • HTTP_404: Not Found > the requested resource is missing - either it is missing or there is an error in the URL

  • HTTP_405: Method Not Allowed > method of the request is not allowed or is disabled

  • HTTP_406: Not Acceptable > link destination only generates responses DubBot does not accept

  • HTTP_407: Proxy Authentication Required > similar to 401, authentication required

  • HTTP_408: Request Timeout > DubBot timed out while waiting for a reply from the server

  • HTTP_409: Conflict > or invalid state, cannot be completed

  • HTTP_410: Gone > resource has been deliberately removed and is not expected to return, stronger than a 404

  • HTTP_411: Length Required >

  • HTTP_412: Precondition Failed > server does not meet one or more pre-conditions

  • HTTP_413: Payload Too Large

  • HTTP_414: URI Too Long

  • HTTP_415: Unsupported Media Type

  • HTTP_416: Range Not Satisfiable

  • HTTP_417: Expectation Failed

  • HTTP_418: I'm a Teapot > leftover April Fool's joke that is used by some for requests they don't want to handle

  • HTTP_421: Misdirected Request

  • HTTP_422: Unprocessable Entity

  • HTTP_423: Locked

  • HTTP_424: Failed Dependency

  • HTTP_425: Too Early

  • HTTP_426: Upgrade Required

  • HTTP_428: Precondition Required

  • HTTP_431: Request Header Fields Too Large

  • HTTP_451: Unavailable For Legal Reasons

  • ERRNO_EPROTO: Protocol error

The following status codes are disabled by default in Dubbot, meaning they will not be reported:

  • HTTP_429: Too Many Requests > can happen if too many requests are sent in a given time

  • HTTP_500: Internal Server Error

  • HTTP_501: Not Implemented

  • HTTP_502: Bad Gateway

  • HTTP_503: Service Unavailable > can happen when server is busy or needs repair

  • HTTP_504: Gateway Timeout

  • HTTP_505: HTTP Version Not Supported

  • HTTP_506: Variant Also Negotiates

  • HTTP_507: Insufficient Storage

  • HTTP_508: Loop Detected

  • HTTP_509: Bandwidth Limit Exceeded

  • HTTP_510: Not Extended

  • HTTP_511: Network Authentication Required

  • ERRNO_ECONNREFUSED: Connection refused

  • ERRNO_ECONNRESET: Remote host reset the connection request

  • ERRNO_EMFILE: Too many open files

  • ERRNO_ENOTFOUND: No matching DNS record found

  • ERRNO_ETIMEDOUT: Connection timed out

  • BLC_CUSTOM: Custom Exclusion

  • BLC_EXTERNAL: External URL Exclusion

  • BLC_HTML: HTML Exclusion

  • BLC_INTERNAL: Internal URL Exclusion

  • BLC_INVALID: Invalid URL

  • BLC_KEYWORD: Keyword Exclusion

  • BLC_ROBOTS: Robots Exclusion

  • BLC_SAMEPAGE: Same-page URL Exclusion

  • BLC_SCHEME: Scheme Exclusion

  • BLC_UNKNOWN: Unknown Error

Find more detailed information on HTTP Response Status Codes from MDN web docs.

If you have questions, please contact our DubBot Support team via email at help@dubbot.com or via the blue chat bubble in the lower right corner of your screen. We are here to help!

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