Network ports · 80
80 — HTTP
Port 80 is the default port for plain HTTP.
Key facts
| Port | 80 |
|---|---|
| Transport | TCP |
| Service | HTTP |
| Encryption | None |
| Default | Yes, for http:// URLs |
| Range | Well-known (0–1023) |
Still needed, rarely served
Browsers try port 80 when a URL has no scheme or an http:// prefix. Almost every public site should answer on 80 with a redirect to the HTTPS URL, so users who type a bare hostname land on the secure version.
Certificate issuance also depends on it: the ACME HTTP-01 challenge places a token at a well-known path over plain HTTP. Disabling port 80 entirely can break automatic renewal unless another challenge type is used.
Keeping it safe
Serve nothing sensitive over port 80. A redirect response and the ACME path are enough. If an application also answers on 80, cookies without Secure can be sent in clear text and intercepted.
Behind a proxy or CDN, the public listener may be on 443 while the origin still speaks HTTP internally. That is normal, provided the internal network is trusted and the proxy sets forwarding headers correctly.
Frequently asked questions
Can I close port 80 completely?
Often, but HTTP-01 certificate validation and bare-host redirects need it. Check your certificate method first.
Is HTTP on port 80 insecure?
The traffic is unencrypted. The port number is not the problem; the missing TLS layer is.