limit_req

Sets the shared memory zone and the maximum burst size of requests. If the requests rate exceeds the rate configured for a zone, their processing is delayed such that requests are processed at a defined rate. Excessive requests are delayed until their number exceeds the maximum burst size in which case the request is terminated with an error 503 (Service Temporarily Unavailable). By default, the maximum burst size is equal to zero. For example, the directives

limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=one:10m rate=1r/s;

server {
    location /search/ {
        limit_req zone=one burst=5;
    }

allow not more than 1 request per second at an average, with bursts not exceeding 5 requests.

If delaying of excessive requests while requests are being limited is not desired, the parameter nodelay should be used:

limit_req zone=one burst=5 nodelay;

There could be several limit_req directives. For example, the following configuration will limit the processing rate of requests coming from a single IP address and, at the same time, the request processing rate by the virtual server:

limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=perip:10m rate=1r/s;
limit_req_zone $server_name zone=perserver:10m rate=10r/s;

server {
    ...
    limit_req zone=perip burst=5 nodelay;
    limit_req zone=perserver burst=10;
}

These directives are inherited from the previous level if and only if there are no limit_req directives on the current level.