http-status-code-503

Status 503: is "Retry-After" necessary?

I'm adding to my php script a 503 header statement. In all examples I've seen, this is followed by some variation of:

header('Retry-After: 300');

Is it necessary to include the "Retry-After" statement? I'd prefer not to.

Solution

  • No it is not necessary.

    http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec10.html

    "The server is currently unable to handle the request due to a temporary overloading or maintenance of the server. The implication is that this is a temporary condition which will be alleviated after some delay. If known, the length of the delay MAY be indicated in a Retry-After header. If no Retry-After is given, the client SHOULD handle the response as it would for a 500 response."

    If known, the length of the delay MAY be indicated in a Retry-After header.