---
When using Hugo with [GitHub Pages](http://pages.github.com/), you can provide
-your own template for a [custom 404 error page](https://help.github.com/articles/custom-404-pages/) by creating a 404.html file in the root.
+your own template for a [custom 404 error page](https://help.github.com/articles/custom-404-pages/) by creating a 404.html template file in your `/layouts` folder. When Hugo generates your site, the `404.html` file will be placed in the root.
-404 pages are of the type "node" and have all the [node
+404 pages are of the type **"node"** and have all the [node
variables](/layout/variables/) available to use in the templates.
In addition to the standard node variables, the 404 page has access to
{{ partial "footer.html" . }}
+### Automatic Loading
+
+Your 404.html file can be set to load automatically when a visitor enters a mistaken URL path, dependent upon the web serving environment you are using. For example:
+
+* _Github Pages_ - it's automatic.
+* _Apache_ - one way is to specify `ErrorDocument 404 /404.html` in an `.htaccess` file in the root of your site.
+* _Nginx_ - you might specify `error_page 404 = /404.html;` in your `nginx.conf` file.
+* _Amazon AWS S3_ - when setting a bucket up for static web serving, you can specify the error file.
+