The Perfect htaccess for WordPress

This walks you through what your htaccess should look like in a WordPress Installation. I am a minimalist and believe you shouldn’t be using a ton of plugins that slow down your install when most of what you are looking to accomplish can be achieved with this file.

Therefore, this htaccess will contain bad bot blocker, security optimizations, force https, and a variety of other optimizations. This will save you from installing about 5-10 plugins that would slow down your website.

The .htaccess file to rule them all

Basic WordPress part

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

Secure the WordPress install

# Allow mod_rewrite in htaccess
Options +FollowSymLinks
# Disable directory browsing
Options All -Indexes
# Block wp-includes folder and files
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^wp-admin/includes/ - [F,L]
RewriteRule !^wp-includes/ - [S=3]
RewriteRule ^wp-includes/[^/]+\.php$ - [F,L]
RewriteRule ^wp-includes/js/tinymce/langs/.+\.php - [F,L]
RewriteRule ^wp-includes/theme-compat/ - [F,L]
</IfModule>
# Deny access to wp-config.php file
<files wp-config.php>
order allow,deny
deny from all
</files>

Force HTTPS and Set Time Zones

# Force HTTPS
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} 80
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://christitus.com/$1 [R,L]
# Set Central Time Zone
SetEnv TZ America/Chicago

Miscellaneous Optimizations

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
<IfModule mod_negotiation.c>
Options -MultiViews
</IfModule>
RewriteEngine On
# Redirect Trailing Slashes If Not A Folder...
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)/$ /$1 [L,R=301]
# Handle Front Controller...
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]
# Handle Authorization Header
RewriteCond %{HTTP:Authorization} .
RewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]
</IfModule>

Expires Header Configuration

# BEGIN Expires
<ifModule mod_expires.c>
ExpiresActive On
ExpiresDefault "access 2 days"
ExpiresByType text/html "access plus 3 seconds"
ExpiresByType image/gif "access plus 2419200 seconds"
ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access plus 2419200 seconds"
ExpiresByType image/jpg "access plus 2419200 seconds"
ExpiresByType image/png "access plus 2419200 seconds"
ExpiresByType text/css "access plus 2419200 seconds"
ExpiresByType text/javascript "access plus 2419200 seconds"
ExpiresByType application/x-javascript "access plus 2419200 seconds"
ExpiresByType application/x-shockwave-flash "access 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/pdf "access 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/x-icon "access 1 year"
</ifModule>
# END Expires

Compression Optimization

<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/javascript
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/x-icon
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/svg+xml svg svgz
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rss+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/javascript
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-javascript
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xhtml+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-truetype
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-ttf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-otf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-woff
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-woff2
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-opentype
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/vnd.ms-fontobject
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/ttf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/otf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/eot
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/woff
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/woff2
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/opentype
# For Olders Browsers Which Can't Handle Compression
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4 gzip-only-text/html
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4\.0[678] no-gzip
BrowserMatch \bMSIE !no-gzip !gzip-only-text/html
</IfModule>

Bad Bot and Vulnerability blockers

# Block Bad Bots & Scrapers
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "Aboundex" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "80legs" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "360Spider" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Java" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Cogentbot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Alexibot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^asterias" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^attach" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^BackDoorBot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^BackWeb" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "Bandit" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^BatchFTP" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Bigfoot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Black.Hole" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^BlackWidow" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^BlowFish" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^BotALot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "Buddy" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^BuiltBotTough" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Bullseye" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^BunnySlippers" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Cegbfeieh" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^CheeseBot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^CherryPicker" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^ChinaClaw" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "Collector" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "Copier" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^CopyRightCheck" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^cosmos" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Crescent" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Custo" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^AIBOT" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^DISCo" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^DIIbot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^DittoSpyder" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Download\ Demon" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Download\ Devil" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Download\ Wonder" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^dragonfly" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Drip" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^eCatch" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^EasyDL" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^ebingbong" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^EirGrabber" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^EmailCollector" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^EmailSiphon" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^EmailWolf" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^EroCrawler" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Exabot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Express\ WebPictures" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "Extractor" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^EyeNetIE" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Foobot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^flunky" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^FrontPage" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Go-Ahead-Got-It" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^gotit" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^GrabNet" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Grafula" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Harvest" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^hloader" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^HMView" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^HTTrack" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^humanlinks" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^IlseBot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Image\ Stripper" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Image\ Sucker" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "Indy\ Library" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^InfoNaviRobot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^InfoTekies" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Intelliseek" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^InterGET" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Internet\ Ninja" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Iria" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Jakarta" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^JennyBot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^JetCar" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^JOC" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^JustView" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Jyxobot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Kenjin.Spider" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Keyword.Density" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^larbin" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^LexiBot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^lftp" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^libWeb/clsHTTP" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^likse" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^LinkextractorPro" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^LinkScan/8.1a.Unix" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^LNSpiderguy" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^LinkWalker" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^lwp-trivial" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^LWP::Simple" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Magnet" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Mag-Net" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^MarkWatch" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Mass\ Downloader" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Mata.Hari" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Memo" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Microsoft.URL" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Microsoft\ URL\ Control" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^MIDown\ tool" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^MIIxpc" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Mirror" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Missigua\ Locator" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Mister\ PiX" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^moget" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Mozilla/3.Mozilla/2.01" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Mozilla.*NEWT" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^NAMEPROTECT" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Navroad" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^NearSite" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^NetAnts" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Netcraft" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^NetMechanic" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^NetSpider" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Net\ Vampire" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^NetZIP" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^NextGenSearchBot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^NG" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^NICErsPRO" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^niki-bot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^NimbleCrawler" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Ninja" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^NPbot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Octopus" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Offline\ Explorer" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Offline\ Navigator" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Openfind" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^OutfoxBot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^PageGrabber" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Papa\ Foto" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^pavuk" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^pcBrowser" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^PHP\ version\ tracker" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Pockey" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^ProPowerBot/2.14" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^ProWebWalker" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^psbot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Pump" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^QueryN.Metasearch" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^RealDownload" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "Reaper" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "Recorder" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^ReGet" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^RepoMonkey" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^RMA" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "Siphon" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^SiteSnagger" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^SlySearch" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^SmartDownload" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Snake" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Snapbot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Snoopy" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^sogou" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^SpaceBison" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^SpankBot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^spanner" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Sqworm" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "Stripper" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "Sucker" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^SuperBot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^SuperHTTP" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Surfbot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^suzuran" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Szukacz/1.4" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^tAkeOut" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Teleport" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Telesoft" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^TurnitinBot/1.5" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^The.Intraformant" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^TheNomad" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^TightTwatBot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Titan" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^True_Robot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^turingos" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^TurnitinBot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^URLy.Warning" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Vacuum" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^VCI" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^VoidEYE" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Web\ Image\ Collector" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Web\ Sucker" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WebAuto" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WebBandit" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Webclipping.com" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WebCopier" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WebEMailExtrac.*" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WebEnhancer" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WebFetch" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WebGo\ IS" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Web.Image.Collector" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WebLeacher" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WebmasterWorldForumBot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WebReaper" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WebSauger" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Website\ eXtractor" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Website\ Quester" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Webster" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WebStripper" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WebWhacker" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WebZIP" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "Whacker" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Widow" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WISENutbot" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WWWOFFLE" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^WWW-Collector-E" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Xaldon" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Xenu" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Zeus" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "ZmEu" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^Zyborg" bad_bot

# Vulnerability Scanners
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "Acunetix" bad_bot
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "FHscan" bad_bot
# Aggressive Chinese Search Engine
#SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "Baiduspider" bad_bot
# Aggressive Russian Search Engine
# Uncomment to disable this search engine
# SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "Yandex" bad_bot`

<Limit GET POST HEAD>
Order Allow,Deny
Allow from all
# Surveillance
deny from 38.100.19.8/29
deny from 38.100.21.0/24
deny from 38.100.41.64/26
deny from 38.105.71.0/25
deny from 38.105.83.0/27
deny from 38.112.21.140/30
deny from 38.118.42.32/29
deny from 65.213.208.128/27
deny from 65.222.176.96/27
deny from 65.222.185.72/29`

Deny from env=bad_bot
</Limit>

In Closing

I recommend and personally use all the above settings, however, I broke up each section of my htaccess so you can drop ones you don’t like or want. Pay close attention to the section Force HTTPS as this will force all http traffic to https and you must have a valid SSL Certificate.