Bluehost: How to Control FTP Sessions

FTP is a useful tool that lets you safely upload, download, and manage files of any size on your website’s server. With our Shared Hosting plans, you can have up to 8 simultaneous FTP connections per IP. Going over this limit may cause a 421 Connection Error, usually due to idle FTP connections.

What causes the error?

A 421 Connection Error can occur when too many FTP connections are open simultaneously. Here are some common reasons why this might happen:

• Sometimes, your FTP client opens several connections but does not close the old ones.
• Your FTP settings might not be set up correctly.
• If you use Shared Hosting, any FTP connection that is idle for 15 minutes will automatically close to help keep the server running smoothly.

If idle connections aren’t cleared, you may see the error: “421 Connection Error – Too many simultaneous connections.”

How to fix it

You can resolve the 421 Connection Error by checking your FTP settings and clearing any extra or idle connections. Try the following steps:

1. Check your FTP client settings and ensure it closes connections when not in use.
2. Limit the number of simultaneous connections to 8 or fewer.
3. Remove idle connections directly from your FTP client.
4. If you’re using FileZilla, you can limit simultaneous connections and close idle sessions from its settings.

After completing these steps, the 421 error should no longer appear.

Summary

A 421 Connection Error usually occurs when too many FTP connections are open at the same time, often due to idle or misconfigured sessions. Shared Hosting plans allow up to 8 simultaneous FTP connections per IP, and idle connections time out after 15 minutes to protect server performance. By limiting connections, closing unused sessions, and checking FTP client settings (such as in FileZilla), customers can prevent this error and maintain a stable FTP connection.