Are you browsing the Reddit website on your PC, and all of a sudden, a default gateway error code 504 pops up on the screen? This guide will show you why you see the error and how you can fix it.
One universal thing with any popular website is errors or bugs, and Reddit is no different. You may visit the specific subreddit for the issue you are experiencing; however, we are talking about the problems in Reddit itself. Sometimes subreddits don’t have the answers you need.
That being said, quite a few Reddit users report that when they try to access the Reddit website on their browser, they often see a 504 error code on the screen. Hence the website won’t load at all. Let’s find out what is the 504 gateway error and what causes the Reddit website to behave this way.

What is a 504 Gateway Timeout Reddit?

What is a 504 Gateway Timeout Reddit?

Reddit receives massive amounts of traffic every day. Therefore, they use load balancers as a gateway between you and the Reddit servers and balance the enormous traffic. When you visit the Reddit website, you are forwarded to a different web server for each visit to ensure that the website continues to load every time.
Now, if the load balancer detects that a Reddit server has failed, it reroutes you to a different server until the faulty one is working again. This approach ensures that the Reddit website runs smoothly without letting you know the problems in the backend.
However, when the Reddit servers overload so that all of its web servers are busy, the load balancer can’t find a less populated server to reroute you. At this time, the load balancer keeps on fetching a working server for 30 seconds and then throws the 504 time-out error code if it still can’t find one.

What causes a 504 error on Reddit?

What causes a 504 error on Reddit?

Busy Reddit servers are the leading cause of the error code 504. However, the following reasons can also cause the error to show up on your browser screen.
  • You are using a VPN or proxy server to visit the Reddit website.
  • You are experiencing network issues related to internet speed and WiFi signal strength.
  • Client-side or server-side DNS settings are misconfigured or changed.
  • Operating system Firewall settings are preventing the Reddit servers from establishing a connection to your browser.
  • Your PC operating system is infected with a virus or viruses.

How do I fix Reddit error code 504?

How do I fix Reddit error code 504?

You can try the following troubleshooting to rule out the causes of Reddit error code 504 at the client side.

Wait and refresh the website

The quickest and easy fix for the Reddit gateway error is to wait it out. Usually, the error code is temporary and is often get fixed by itself. Therefore, wait for a few minutes and try refreshing the Reddit page to see if this fixes the issue. If the error persists, move on to the following steps.

Reboot network devices in a sequence

Sometimes, issues with your network devices such as modem or router could generate a 504 Gateway Time-out error while visiting the Reddit website. You can reboot these devices to fix the problem.

However, the critical thing to learn here is although you can power off all the network devices in any order, switching them back on in a sequence is very important. To do this, turn off your modem or router and then switch off your PC. Now switch on the router and wait until all the lights are illuminating on the device.

Next, power your PC and let it connect to the router/modem. Hopefully, you will browse the Reddit website successfully this time.

Disable VPN or proxy server

A proxy server enhances your online privacy by sitting between your device and the internet. Although it is rare for a proxy server to cause a 504 error on the Reddit website, it can sometimes be the reason. To eliminate the possibility, disable the proxy server on your Chrome browser in the following way and reload the Reddit website.

  • Open a Chrome tab and click on the three dots on the top right and navigate to Settings.
  • Next, click on the Advanced option on the left table.
  • Now click on the “Open your computer’s proxy settings” on the right.
  • Under the Connections tab, click on LAN Settings and disable the checkbox for the proxy server.
  • Click OK and then click Apply to save the new changes.

Flush DNS cache

Reddit error code 504 can pop up by DNS issues on the server-side or client-side. Usually, a server-side DNS issue occurs if Reddit has migrated the website to a new host and the host has to wait for 24 hours to propagate DNS records fully.

However, you can fix the DNS issue by flushing the DNS cache on the client side. To do this on your Windows PC, open the command prompt with administrative rights and type the ipconfig /flushdns command on the command line. 

You’ll see a “Successfully flushed the DNS resolver Cache.” message when the command is executed successfully. Afterward, relaunch your browser and verify that the Reddit website loads without the 504 error.

Disable firewall

Quite a few times, an incorrect firewall configuration can cause the 504 Gateway error code. However, you can quickly rule out the possibility by temporarily deactivating the firewall in the following way.

If you are using a Windows PC, go to the control panel from the desktop start menu, and select Update & Security –> Windows Security –> Virus & Threat Protection –> Manage Settings. Next, locate and click on Windows Firewall settings. Finally, deactivate your firewall by checking the selecting the “Turn off Windows firewall” option.

Now, if you can load the Reddit website, it means that you need to reconfigure the firewall settings and then activate it for smooth future usability.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this guide will help you explain the Reddit error code 504 and why you need to fix it to view the content on your favorite subreddits. We recommend that you scan your PC for viruses and bugs and clean them with a good antivirus as they can also cause the error to show up on your browser screen.