# If Croct is slow or down, will my Next page render blank?

Asked by Elena Duarte on 2026-10-11. Tags: nextjs, fault-tolerance, fallback.

Before we ship this I want to be sure a slow or failed content request cannot
leave a personalized section empty on the page. A blank hero because a request
hung would be a bad look in front of real users.

What is the recommended fallback pattern with server `fetchContent` so the
section always has something to render? Thanks in advance.

## 2 answers

### Accepted answer from Ingrid Bakker (2026-10-12)

You do not get a blank section as long as you pass a `fallback`. The design
is fault tolerant: `fetchContent` accepts a `fallback` option, and if the
request does not resolve, that content renders instead of nothing.

```ts
const {content} = await fetchContent('home-hero', {
  fallback: {headline: 'Welcome', cta: 'Get started'},
});
```

Because you resolve on the server, the fallback is already part of the initial
HTML. There is no client-side blank state that flashes while a request is in
flight, the visitor either gets the personalized content or the fallback, both
arriving in the first render.

### Answer from sven_m (2026-10-13)

adding the timeout detail since it matters for "slow" not just "down". the
Next SDK defaults the fetch timeout to 2000ms, which is shorter than the
5000ms JavaScript default. so a slow request fails fast to your fallback
rather than hanging the render. background in
[the 2000ms Next default thread](/answers/nextjs-fetch-timeout-2000ms-default).

#### Reply from Elena Duarte (2026-10-14)

Tested it by pointing at a dead endpoint and the section rendered the
fallback every time, never went blank. The shorter timeout means it does
not even pause noticeably. Exactly what I needed, thank you both.