504 Gateway Timeout and PDI Offline in ServiceNow Developer Portal

[shobana_n]

Hi everyone,

I am facing an issue with my ServiceNow Personal Developer Instance (PDI).

Issue

• When I open my ServiceNow instance URL, it takes a very long time to load and eventually displays a 504 Gateway Timeout error.
• When I log in to the ServiceNow Developer Portal, the portal itself is also very slow to load.
• Once the Developer Portal opens, under Manage Instance, my PDI is shown as Offline, and I only see the Refresh button.
• I have tried clicking Refresh multiple times, but the instance never comes back online.

Troubleshooting Performed

• Refreshed the PDI status from the Developer Portal.
• Waited several minutes and tried again.
• Tried accessing the instance multiple times.
• The issue persists consistently.

Note: The instance used last : 1 day ago

Questions

1. What could cause a PDI to remain offline ?
2. Is this typically caused by instance maintenance, instance corruption, or a ServiceNow platform issue?
3. Are there any additional recovery steps I can perform before requesting a new PDI or contacting ServiceNow?
4. Has anyone experienced a similar issue, and if so, how was it resolved?

Any guidance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[yashkamde]

Hello @shobana_n ,

I started seeing the same behavior today. As soon as I open my PDI, it stays on the Loading screen.

I'd recommend waiting 30–60 minutes and trying again. If it's still stuck after 2–3 hours, raise an issue through the Developer Portal Support, as the instance may require intervention from the ServiceNow team.

If my response helped mark as helpful and accept the solution.

[viplavkumar]

Hi @yashkamde,

now your PDI is working ?

[yashkamde]

Yes it was working !

but approx after 15 min faced the same issue as soon as I refreshed the browser..

[Tanushree Maiti]

Hi @shobana_n 

A 504 Gateway Time-out during a Background Script typically indicates that the script execution exceeded the timeout limit enforced by the platform, browser, or proxy server. This often happens when processing large datasets or waiting for slow external integrations.

Recommended actions:

• Terminate the current job or transaction if it is still running.
• Clear the instance cache using cache.do.
• For scripts that process large volumes of data, avoid using the Background Scripts page. Instead, create a Fix Script (System Definition > Fix Scripts). Fix Scripts are trackable, can be monitored, and continue executing even if the browser session times out.
• Use setLimit() on GlideRecord queries whenever possible to reduce the number of records retrieved in a single execution.
• Process records in small, manageable batches (like 50–100 records per execution) to minimize execution time and reduce the risk of node lock-ups or timeouts.

Wait for hours or day , Try to refresh it,, it would be up.