Overpass API and elevation guides
Fix errors and rate limits, point your tools at another Overpass server, and add heights to points, routes and GPX tracks. For ready-to-run queries, see the query examples.
Errors and limits
Stuck with errors or limits on a public Overpass server? Start here.
overpass-api.de: “429 Too Many Requests”
Why the public server rejects your queries, how its slots work, and how to stay within its limits.
Overpass API errors explained
429, 504, “runtime error: Query timed out”, “out of memory”, empty results: causes and fixes, with retry code.
Overpass API alternatives
Public instances, self-hosting and hosted plans compared, and when you need which.
Tools and libraries
Point your tools at another Overpass server, step by step. Tested with the current versions.
Overpass Turbo: use another Overpass server
Where the server setting is, the exact URL format, and what to check when Turbo shows an error.
QuickOSM (QGIS): change the Overpass server
Add a server in the QuickOSM settings, or in custom_config.json on older versions, and use it in Processing.
OSMnx: custom Overpass server and node elevations
Set overpass_url, avoid a 60-second pause before every query, and add node elevations without a Google key.
osmdata (R): use another Overpass server
set_overpass_url() in the R package osmdata, with the key kept out of your scripts.
Overpass API in Python
requests, overpy and overpass: query any Overpass server from Python, with retries and GeoJSON.
Elevation
Heights and depths for points, routes and GPX tracks, and how the elevation APIs compare.
A Google Elevation API alternative
The same request and response format, a fraction of the price, and results you may store and show on any map.
Open-Elevation and Open Topo Data: limits and alternatives
What the free public elevation APIs allow, what self-hosting takes, and how to switch.
Add elevation to a GPX file
Distance, ascent and descent of a track with one curl command, and a Python script that writes the heights into the file.
Try it with your own key
Full-planet Overpass API, updated every minute, with elevation included. The free plan is enough to follow every guide.