Data location

Learn how the location of data stored in R2 is determined and about the different available inputs that control the physical location where objects in your buckets are stored.

​​ Automatic (recommended)

When you create a new bucket, the data location is set to Automatic by default. Currently, this option chooses a bucket location in the closest available region to the create bucket request based on the location of the caller.

​​ Location Hints

Location Hints are optional parameters you can provide during bucket creation to indicate the primary geographical location you expect data will be accessed from.

Using Location Hints can be a good choice when you expect the majority of access to data in a bucket to come from a different location than where the create bucket request originates. Keep in mind Location Hints are a best effort and not a guarantee, and they should only be used as a way to optimize performance by placing regularly updated content closer to users.

​​ Set hints via the Cloudflare dashboard

You can choose to automatically create your bucket in the closest available region based on your location or choose a specific location from the list.

1. Log in to the Cloudflare dashboard Open external link and select R2.
2. Select Create bucket.
3. Enter a name for the bucket.
4. Under Location, leave None selected for automatic selection or choose a region from the list.
5. Select Create bucket to complete the bucket creation process.

​​ Set hints via the S3 API

You can set the Location Hint via the LocationConstraint parameter using the S3 API:

await S3.send(
  new CreateBucketCommand({
    Bucket,
    CreateBucketConfiguration: {
      LocationConstraint: "WNAM",
    },
  })
);

Refer to Examples for additional examples of S3 SDKs.

​​ Available hints

The following hint locations are supported:

​​ Current limitations

Location Hints are only honored the first time a bucket with a given name is created. If you delete and recreate a bucket with the same name, the original bucket’s location will be used.