Escape from Tarkov players troubled by "Bad Gateway" server error

Players of the popular survival shooter Escape from Tarkov are experiencing widespread frustration as a persistent server error plagues the game. The issue, which manifests as a “Backend error: HTTP/1.1 502 Bad Gateway” message, has been affecting users for several hours, rendering the game nearly unplayable for many.

The error appears as a pop-up dialog box with the title “Critical error” and only an “OK” button to dismiss it, leaving players with no recourse but to attempt reconnecting or restarting the game entirely.

The problem seems to have arisen shortly after developers Battlestate Games announced a temporary disabling of task progression synchronization between Escape from Tarkov and its spin-off, Tarkov Arena. While the developers stated they were “actively working on fixing known issues,” players have been left grappling with frequent disconnections and inability to perform basic in-game actions.

Numerous players have taken to social media to voice their concerns. One user reported receiving the error “every 2 minutes,” while another claimed they couldn’t “do anything” despite trying to play for two hours. The issue appears to be widespread, affecting players across different geographical locations.

The error is causing more than just inconvenience. Some players report losing in-game currency and items due to the server instability. One user claimed to have lost “a whole raid’s worth of stuff” after extracting successfully, only to be caught in an error loop that resulted in their character being stripped of all gear. However, another player said “To everyone saying they are losing cash from this. If you restart the game you should be able to reclaim the cash lost. It worked for me on a couple occasions where I got the error selling a labs keycard and a valday.”

The timing of this server issue is particularly unfortunate, coming on the heels of other reported problems in the game. Players have been complaining about sound glitches, invisible scavs (AI-controlled enemies), packet loss, and other gameplay-related issues.

Battlestate Games has yet to officially address the “Bad Gateway” error specifically, leaving players to speculate about the cause and potential fixes. Some users have suggested that the recent changes related to Tarkov Arena might be putting additional strain on the servers. That said, we’ll keep an eye on the situation and will post an update if and when there’s something to share.

Featured image credits: PandimoniumJew / Reddit