Mastering Nginx location: Syntax, Matching Types, and Priority Rules

Location Syntax

The location directive in Nginx defines how incoming request strings are processed for routing, caching, response control, and proxy forwarding.

Syntax:

location [=|~|~*|^~] uri { ... }

Matching Types

The optional bracketed part specifies the match type:

= – Exact match; the request string must be identical to the URI.

~ – Case‑sensitive regular expression match.

~* – Case‑insensitive regular expression match.

^~ – Not a regex; matches when the URI starts with the given literal string.

none – Same as ^~ but with a different evaluation order.

Match Categories

Ordinary match (no brackets or using ^~).

Exact match ( =).

Regex match ( ~ or ~*).

Examples

location = / {

# Exact match for the root path; no characters may follow the host name. location / { # Ordinary match; matches all requests because every URI starts with /. location ~* \.(gif|jpg|jpeg)$ { # Regex match; applies to URIs ending with .gif, .jpg, or .jpeg, case‑insensitively.

Priority of Multiple location Blocks

Search for an exact match ( =); if found, stop and use it.

Check ordinary matches for any that start with ^~; if found, stop and use the first such match, otherwise remember the best ordinary match.

Evaluate regex matches in order; if a match is found, stop and use it; otherwise fall back to the best ordinary match remembered earlier.