Cloudflare Error 1015: You are being rate limited

What the error means

Error 1015 is shown by Cloudflare, a service that many sites run through. The limit is set not by Cloudflare but by the site owner: how many requests are allowed from one address in what time.

The block is temporary: from a few seconds to hours, depending on the owner's settings. In essence it is the same as the 429 code, just in Cloudflare's presentation.

Causes

• Many requests from one address in a short time. The most common cause when working with a sticky IP.
• Parallel threads to one page. The limit triggers faster than the overall pace suggests.
• Repeated requests for the same page. Refreshing in a loop, checking availability every few seconds.
• The address was recently used heavily. In a shared pool, someone before you may have used up the limit on the address.

How to fix it

1. Take a pause: the limit will lift on its own.
2. Lower the pace and the number of threads to this site; add uneven pauses.
3. Turn on address rotation — port 823 or 824 gives a new IP for every request.
4. On a sticky IP, change the session by taking another port from the 10000–20000 range.
5. Do not request the same thing again: save the data you have received.
6. If the site has an official API, use it: the limits there are known in advance.

How to check that it works

Open the site in a browser through the same address after some time. If the page opens but 1015 comes back at the previous pace, aim for a slower pace.