If "return" rules are above than "expires", then "expires" stop working.

[nonegit@…]

server{
...
[1] location ~* \.(css|js|jpg|zip)$ {valid_referers server_names;if ($invalid_referer){return 444;}}
[2] location ~ /customer/downloads/ {valid_referers server_names;if ($invalid_referer){return 444;}}
[3] location ~* \.(css|html|js|jpg)$ {expires 2h;}
...
}

Current result:
/customer/downloads/ (=index.html) --- returns "Cache-Control: max-age=7200" header
/customer/downloads/xxx.css,
/customer/downloads/xxx.jpg --- doesn't return Cache header

Expected result:
/customer/downloads/xxx.css,
/customer/downloads/xxx.jpg must return cache control header, like html.

Why is this happening?

Note:

1. If I move [3] to above [1], [1] and [2] rules are completely ignored.

[nonegit@…]

nginx processing

Expected result:

0. Ok, next line.
1. Referer is okay, we won't return 444.
2. Ok, next line please.
3. Set expires to these extensions. Got it.

Actual result:

0. Ok, next line.
1. Referer is okay, we won't return 444.
2. Ok, next line please.
3. What's this? Set expire header? We decided to return not-444, nothing more!!

[Maxim Dounin]

Consider reading ​How nginx processes a request and documentation on the ​location directive. In the example above, /customer/downloads/xxx.jpg request is matched by the location ~* \.(css|js|jpg|zip)$ location, which does not contain the expires directives. As such, the result is expected.

If you have further questions on how to use nginx, consider ​support options available.