---
title: "ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED: causes and how to fix it"
description: "Something answered the connection attempt and rejected it outright. That means the host is reachable but nothing is listening on that port — the web server…"
canonical: "https://lemwatch.com/errors/err-connection-refused"
source: "https://lemwatch.com"
---

# ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED: The server actively refused the connection

> Something answered the connection attempt and rejected it outright. That means the host is reachable but nothing is listening on that port — the web server is stopped, bound to the wrong interface, or on a different port.

## Short answer

 Something answered the connection attempt and rejected it outright. That means the host is reachable but nothing is listening on that port — the web server is stopped, bound to the wrong interface, or on a different port.

## What ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED means

 A refusal is a TCP RST. The host exists and is on the network; it simply has no service accepting connections on that port. This is a much narrower diagnosis than a timeout.

## Causes and fixes, most likely first

- The web server process is not running. Start the service and check it stays up. Read the startup log — a failed config test is the usual reason it exited.
- The server is bound to 127.0.0.1 instead of all interfaces. Bind to 0.0.0.0 (or the public interface) so connections from outside the machine are accepted.
- The service listens on a non-standard port. Confirm the listening port matches what the browser is requesting, and that any reverse proxy forwards to the right one.
- A local firewall is rejecting rather than dropping. Allow the port explicitly. A reject rule produces a refusal; a drop rule produces a timeout.

## How to stop it happening again

- Alert on the process being down, not only on the site returning a bad status — a refused connection returns no status at all.
- Verify the listening interface after every deploy; a bind change is easy to make and invisible until traffic arrives.

## Check your own domain

 An external probe distinguishes a refusal that everyone sees from a local-only block, and reports whether any port is answering.

## Frequently asked questions

### Why does localhost work but the public address not?

 The service is bound to the loopback interface only. Bind to 0.0.0.0 so it accepts connections from other hosts.

### Is ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED a DNS problem?

 No. DNS resolved successfully — that is how the browser reached the host to be refused. The fault is at the service or firewall layer.


## Related

- [All website error codes](https://lemwatch.com/errors)
- [ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT](https://lemwatch.com/errors/err-connection-timed-out)
- [ERR_CONNECTION_RESET](https://lemwatch.com/errors/err-connection-reset)
- [ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE](https://lemwatch.com/errors/err-empty-response)
- [Cloudflare Error 521](https://lemwatch.com/errors/cloudflare-521)
- [HTTP 502](https://lemwatch.com/http-status-codes/502)
- [HTTP 503](https://lemwatch.com/http-status-codes/503)
- [Free Uptime & response check](https://lemwatch.com/tools/website-uptime)