---
title: "Cloudflare Error 1015: causes and how to fix it"
description: "A Cloudflare rate-limiting rule matched the request. Either the client genuinely exceeded a limit, or a rule is scoped too broadly and is catching normal…"
canonical: "https://lemwatch.com/errors/cloudflare-1015"
source: "https://lemwatch.com"
---

# Cloudflare Error 1015: You are being rate limited

> A Cloudflare rate-limiting rule matched the request. Either the client genuinely exceeded a limit, or a rule is scoped too broadly and is catching normal traffic.

## Short answer

 A Cloudflare rate-limiting rule matched the request. Either the client genuinely exceeded a limit, or a rule is scoped too broadly and is catching normal traffic.

## What Cloudflare Error 1015 means

 1015 comes from Cloudflare's rate limiting, not from the origin. The origin never sees the request, which is why nothing appears in its logs.

## Causes and fixes, most likely first

- A rate-limiting rule is too aggressive for real traffic patterns. Review the rule's threshold and window in Security → WAF → Rate limiting rules, and scope it to the specific paths that need protection.
- Many users share one IP behind a corporate NAT and collectively trip the limit. Rate limit on a session or API key characteristic instead of raw IP where possible.
- An integration or crawler is hammering an endpoint. Identify the source in the Cloudflare Security Events log and either throttle it at source or allowlist it deliberately.

## How to stop it happening again

- Alert on 1015 rate — a rule that starts catching real users looks exactly like a traffic drop otherwise.
- Scope rate-limit rules to endpoints rather than the whole hostname.

## Check your own domain

 An external probe shows whether the limit applies broadly or only to specific clients and paths.

## Frequently asked questions

### Why is nothing in my server logs?

 Because Cloudflare blocks the request at the edge. Check Cloudflare's Security Events log instead of the origin's access log.


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- [All website error codes](https://lemwatch.com/errors)
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- [Your connection is not private on Windows](https://lemwatch.com/errors/your-connection-is-not-private/on-windows)
- [Website monitoring overview](https://lemwatch.com/website-monitoring)