Here is a comprehensive list of Apache HTTP Server configuration directives you might encounter in httpd.conf
and included config files (like extra/httpd-vhosts.conf
, extra/httpd-ssl.conf
, etc). Apache has hundreds of directives—here are the most common and important ones, grouped by function. (For a complete official list, see: Apache Directives Index)
Core Server Directives
- ServerName
- ServerAlias
- ServerAdmin
- DocumentRoot
- Listen
- User
- Group
- PidFile
- Timeout
- KeepAlive
- KeepAliveTimeout
- MaxKeepAliveRequests
- ServerTokens
- ServerSignature
- ServerRoot
- HostnameLookups
- LimitRequestBody
- LimitRequestFields
- LimitRequestFieldSize
- LimitRequestLine
Directory and File Handling
- DirectoryIndex
- Options
- AllowOverride
- Require
- Order (legacy)
- Allow (legacy)
- Deny (legacy)
- AccessFileName
- Files
- Directory
- Location
- Alias
- ScriptAlias
- IndexOptions
- IndexIgnore
- Redirect
- RedirectMatch
Logging
- ErrorLog
- CustomLog
- LogLevel
- LogFormat
Modules and Extensions
- LoadModule
- AddModule (legacy)
- Include
- TypesConfig
- AddType
- AddHandler
- AddOutputFilter
- AddInputFilter
- AddLanguage
- AddCharset
- AddEncoding
- AddIcon
- AddDescription
Performance and Connection Handling
- StartServers
- MinSpareServers
- MaxSpareServers
- MaxClients (legacy; use MaxRequestWorkers)
- MaxRequestWorkers
- MaxConnectionsPerChild
- ThreadsPerChild
- ThreadLimit
- ServerLimit
Security and Access Control
- Require
- AuthType
- AuthName
- AuthUserFile
- AuthGroupFile
- AuthBasicProvider
- AllowOverride
- SSLProtocol
- SSLCipherSuite
- SSLCertificateFile
- SSLCertificateKeyFile
- SSLCertificateChainFile
- SSLEngine
- SSLVerifyClient
- SSLVerifyDepth
- SSLProxyEngine
Virtual Hosting
- VirtualHost
- NameVirtualHost
- UseCanonicalName
- ServerAlias
- ServerAdmin
- DocumentRoot
- ErrorLog
- CustomLog
- SSLEngine (for SSL vhosts)
Proxy and Reverse Proxy
- ProxyRequests
- ProxyPass
- ProxyPassReverse
- ProxyPreserveHost
- ProxyTimeout
- ProxyAddHeaders
- ProxyVia
- ProxyPassMatch
URL Rewriting
- RewriteEngine
- RewriteCond
- RewriteRule
- RewriteBase
- RewriteMap
MIME Types and Content Handling
- TypesConfig
- DefaultType
- AddType
- AddEncoding
- AddLanguage
- AddCharset
Other Useful Directives
- SetEnv
- PassEnv
- UnsetEnv
- Header
- RequestHeader
- SetHandler
- ScriptAlias
- ScriptAliasMatch
- ScriptInterpreterSource
- SuexecUserGroup
Legacy and Deprecated Directives
(Some older directives are still seen in configs, though they’re deprecated)
- Order
- Allow
- Deny
- NameVirtualHost
- MaxClients
How to Get the Full List on Your Server
You can get a list of all directives supported by your current Apache install with:
apachectl -L
or
httpd -L
This prints all recognized directives with a brief description.
Official Full List (by Module)
For the complete and always up-to-date list, see:
👉 https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/directives.html
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