Yes. It comes from Cloudflare's Radar API, which surfaces real, observed internet traffic anomalies by region.

Why does it need a pipeline?

Cloudflare Radar's fuller API requires a free token, which stays on your pipeline machine and never reaches the browser.

How do I get a token?

Register for free at the Cloudflare dashboard — no cost, approval is usually immediate.

Yes — free to use; only the pipeline's Cloudflare token requires a free signup.

Does a flagged region mean the whole internet is down there?

Not necessarily. An anomaly is an unusual drop in traffic compared with a historical baseline, and its cause and extent can vary until it is confirmed.

Can this detect deliberate shutdowns?

An automated anomaly only shows a drop in traffic. Radar’s Outage Center lists a likely cause, including government-directed shutdowns, but that comes from confirmation and public information, not from the traffic drop itself.

Why might a small outage not appear?

The measurements come from traffic Cloudflare can observe, so local problems that affect little of that traffic can go unnoticed.

Internet Outage Map Screensaver

The Internet Outage Map screensaver flags world regions with real, currently elevated internet traffic anomalies — a proxy for outages and disruptions — refreshed by a background pipeline from Cloudflare's Radar API, using your free token. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.

How the Internet Outage Map screensaver works

A background pipeline reads real regional internet traffic anomaly signals from Cloudflare's Radar API, using your free token.

Regions with a real, currently flagged anomaly glow on the world map.

A side list names the affected regions and roughly when the anomaly began.

Readings refresh on the pipeline's schedule, not live tick by tick.

How traffic anomalies stand in for outages

Cloudflare publishes Radar, which draws on traffic across Cloudflare’s global network plus aggregated, anonymised data from its 1.1.1.1 public DNS resolver. Radar’s glossary defines an Outage Center anomaly as an algorithmically observed, anomalous drop in traffic for a location or network, measured against its historical baseline. A sharp fall is a signal that connectivity may have been lost.

It is a signal, not a diagnosis. Radar marks an anomaly as verified only after Cloudflare manually confirms the drop across several Cloudflare data sources or third-party sources such as IODA. Confirmed outages are listed with a type (nationwide, sub-national or a single network), a scope, start and end times and a likely cause based on public information, such as a government-directed shutdown, severe weather, a cable cut or a power outage.

Coverage depends on the traffic Cloudflare sees, so a region where little traffic passes through its network is harder to judge. Entries can change after they first appear, for example from an unconfirmed anomaly to a verified one, so a flag on the map is a prompt to look closer rather than a final answer.

A worked example

During a real regional disruption you'd see that country glow amber on the map, with its name and a rough start time listed at the side — a genuine signal, not a scripted event.

Settings & tips

Accent recolours the anomaly glow.
Run automation/run.py outagewatch on your pipeline machine to refresh the data.
A free Cloudflare Radar API token is required — see the site's setup notes.

Frequently asked questions

Is the data real?: Yes. It comes from Cloudflare's Radar API, which surfaces real, observed internet traffic anomalies by region.
Why does it need a pipeline?: Cloudflare Radar's fuller API requires a free token, which stays on your pipeline machine and never reaches the browser.
How do I get a token?: Register for free at the Cloudflare dashboard — no cost, approval is usually immediate.
Is it free?: Yes — free to use; only the pipeline's Cloudflare token requires a free signup.
Does a flagged region mean the whole internet is down there?: Not necessarily. An anomaly is an unusual drop in traffic compared with a historical baseline, and its cause and extent can vary until it is confirmed.
Can this detect deliberate shutdowns?: An automated anomaly only shows a drop in traffic. Radar’s Outage Center lists a likely cause, including government-directed shutdowns, but that comes from confirmation and public information, not from the traffic drop itself.
Why might a small outage not appear?: The measurements come from traffic Cloudflare can observe, so local problems that affect little of that traffic can go unnoticed.

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