Support Start > Web Hosting Technical Information > Installing and Configuring Custom Scripts > PHP Scripts > Using php_flag or php_value in .htaccess files

Some PHP scripts suggest using "php_value" or "php_flag" commands in .htaccess files, as in this example:

php_value  include_path         ".:/usr/local/lib/php" 
php_flag   display_errors       Off
php_value  upload_max_filesize  500M

However, our servers run PHP in "CGI mode" as recommended by the PHP developers (not as an Apache module), so you can't use "php_value" or "php_flag" commands in .htaccess files. If you try to do so, you'll see an "internal server error" message.

You can modify your php.ini file to get the same effect, though. In fact, modifying php.ini is actually more flexible than using php_value or php_flag: there are many things you can't override using .htaccess files, but you can override almost any PHP setting in the php.ini file.

See our PHP support page for instructions on modifying php.ini. To get the same effect as the .htaccess lines above, you would simply add these lines to your custom php.ini file:

include_path = ".:/usr/local/lib/php" 
display_errors = Off
upload_max_filesize = 500M