To enable Gzip compression, you need to add gzip on; and related parameters in the Nginx configuration; 2. The key configurations include setting the minimum compression length (gzip_min_length 1024), compression level (gzip_comp_level 6), and specifying MIME type (gzip_types); 3. The test method is to use curl to check Content-Encoding: gzip response header; 4. Avoid compressing files such as pictures, videos and WOFF2 fonts; 5. You can enable gzip_static on; to directly provide pre-compressed files, improve performance and reduce CPU consumption.
Gzip compression in Nginx is a simple but powerful way to reduce the size of your web content (like HTML, CSS, and JS files) before sending it to the browser—making your site faster and using less bandwidth.

Here's how to set it up properly:
? Basic Gzip Configuration in Nginx
Add this block inside the http {}
or server {}
context of your Nginx config ( /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
or a site-specific file in /etc/nginx/sites-available/
):

gzip on; gzip_vary on; gzip_min_length 1024; gzip_proxied any; gzip_comp_level 6; gzip_types text/plain text/css text/xml text/javascript application/javascript application/xml rss application/json application/x-font-ttf font/opentype;
What each line does:
-
gzip on;
– Enables Gzip compression. -
gzip_vary on;
– Tells proxies (like CDNs) to cache both compressed and uncompressed versions based on the request header. -
gzip_min_length 1024;
– Only compress files larger than 1KB. Small files might actually get bigger when compressed due to overhead. -
gzip_proxied any;
– Compress even if the request comes from a proxy. -
gzip_comp_level 6;
– Balance between speed (1) and compression ratio (9). 5–6 is ideal for most sites. -
gzip_types ...
– Specifies which MIME types to compress. Common ones are listed above. Avoid compressing images, videos, or already-compressed files like PDFs.
? How to Test If Gzip Is Working
Use curl to check the Content-Encoding
header:

curl -H "Accept-Encoding: gzip" -I http://yoursite.com/style.css
Look for:
Content-Encoding: gzip
Or use online tools like http://ipnx.cn/link/aac365f9b7c5ac053a861093dcf0c125 or Chrome DevTools (Network tab → check "Content-Encoding" in response headers).
?? Common Pitfalls
- Don't gzip everything : Skip images, fonts (WOFF2 is already compressed), videos, and pre-compressed assets.
- Wrong MIME types : If a file (like a JSON API response) isn't in
gzip_types
, it won't be compressed—even if it should be. - Compression level too high : Setting
gzip_comp_level 9
can slow down your server for minimal gain.
? Pro Tip: Use gzip_static
for Precompressed Files
If you precompress files (eg, style.css.gz
), enable:
gzip_static on;
Nginx will serve the .gz
file directly instead of compressing on-the-fly—faster and less CPU usage.
That's it. Gzip in Nginx is straightforward once you know what to enable and what to avoid.
Basically just turn it on, pick the right types, and test.
The above is the detailed content of Gzip Compression in Nginx. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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