--- title: "HTTP Request Defaults" description: "Configure the JMeter HTTP Request Defaults configuration elements: properties, defaults, and practical usage notes for building reliable load tests." url: https://docs.jmeter.ai/components/http-request-defaults/ lastUpdated: 2026-10-01 source: docs.jmeter.ai --- # HTTP Request Defaults *Part of the **Configuration Elements** category. Also documented in context in the [full Component Reference](/user-manual/component-reference/#http-request-defaults).* **TL;DR:** HTTP Request Defaults sets shared server, port, protocol, path prefix, and timeout values that every [HTTP Request](/components/http-request/) underneath it inherits — the standard way to avoid repeating the same hostname on 50 samplers. ![HTTP Request Defaults](/images/screenshots/http-config/http-request-defaults.png) This element lets you set default values that your HTTP Request controllers use. For example, if you are creating a Test Plan with 25 HTTP Request controllers and all of the requests are being sent to the same server, you could add a single HTTP Request Defaults element with the “`Server Name or IP`” field filled in. Then, when you add the 25 HTTP Request controllers, leave the “`Server Name or IP`” field empty. The controllers will inherit this field value from the HTTP Request Defaults element. > **Note** > All port values are treated equally; a sampler that does not specify a port will use the HTTP Request Defaults port, if one is provided. ![HTTP Request Advanced config fields](/images/screenshots/http-config/http-request-defaults-advanced-tab.png) *HTTP Request Advanced config fields* | Name | Required | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | Name | No | Descriptive name for this element that is shown in the tree. | | Server | No | Domain name or IP address of the web server. E.g. `www.example.com`. [Do not include the `http://` prefix. | | Port | No | Port the web server is listening to. | | Connect Timeout | No | Connection Timeout. Number of milliseconds to wait for a connection to open. | | Response Timeout | No | Response Timeout. Number of milliseconds to wait for a response. | | Implementation | No | `Java`, `HttpClient4`. If not specified the default depends on the value of the JMeter property `jmeter.httpsampler`, failing that, the `Java` implementation is used. | | Protocol | No | `HTTP` or `HTTPS`. | | Content encoding | No | The encoding to be used for the request. | | Path | No | The path to resource (for example, `/servlets/myServlet`). If the resource requires query string parameters, add them below in the “`Send Parameters With the Request`” section. Note that the path is the default for the full path, not a prefix to be applied to paths specified on the HTTP Request screens. | | Send Parameters With the Request | No | The query string will be generated from the list of parameters you provide. Each parameter has a *name* and *value*. The query string will be generated in the correct fashion, depending on the choice of “`Method`” you made (i.e. if you chose `GET`, the query string will be appended to the URL, if `POST`, then it will be sent separately). Also, if you are sending a file using a multipart form, the query string will be created using the multipart form specifications. | | Server (proxy) | No | Hostname or IP address of a proxy server to perform request. [Do not include the `http://` prefix.] | | Port | No, unless proxy hostname is specified | Port the proxy server is listening to. | | Username | No | (Optional) username for proxy server. | | Password | No | (Optional) password for proxy server. (N.B. this is stored unencrypted in the test plan) | | Retrieve All Embedded Resources from HTML Files | No | Tell JMeter to parse the HTML file and send HTTP/HTTPS requests for all images, Java applets, JavaScript files, CSSs, etc. referenced in the file. | | Use concurrent pool | No | Use a pool of concurrent connections to get embedded resources. | | Size | No | Pool size for concurrent connections used to get embedded resources. | | URLs must match: | No | If present, this must be a regular expression that is used to match against any embedded URLs found. So if you only want to download embedded resources from `http://example.invalid/`, use the expression: `http://example\.invalid/.*` | | URLs must not match: | No | If present, this must be a regular expression that is used to filter out any embedded URLs found. So if you don’t want to download PNG or SVG files from any source, use the expression: `.*.(?i:svg | > **Note** > Note: radio buttons only have two states - on or off. > This makes it impossible to override settings consistently > > - does off mean off, or does it mean use the current default? > JMeter uses the latter (otherwise defaults would not work at all). > So if the button is off, then a later element can set it on, > but if the button is on, a later element cannot set it off. ### Common gotchas - Values here are **defaults, not overrides** — if an individual HTTP Request has its own server/port filled in, that sampler’s value wins, which can cause “why is this one request hitting the wrong host” confusion after a copy-paste. - Great place to centralize **Connect/Response timeouts** so every request in a scope gets a sane timeout without configuring each sampler individually. - Works well combined with a variable for the hostname (`${host}`) so switching environments (staging vs. production) is a single property change — see the [API Load Testing Guide](/topics/api-load-testing/). - Scope it at the Thread Group (or higher) level for test-plan-wide defaults, or lower in the tree for per-flow overrides. ## Related - [CSV Data Set & Parameterization](/topics/csv-data-set-config-guide/) - [Thread Calculator](/tools/thread-calculator/) - [API Load Testing Guide](/topics/api-load-testing/) - [Full Component Reference](/user-manual/component-reference/) - [Functions and Variables](/user-manual/functions/)