---
title: "Sub-sitemaps return 404 on staging"
description: "On your staging site, the sitemap index loads, but every sub-sitemap listed in it returns a 404. **Why this happens.** This is expected behavior when the…"
url: "https://homerunner.io/docs/why-does-my-sitemap-index-load-but-every-sub-sitemap-returns-404-on-my-staging-s/"
updated: "2026-10-26"
category: Setup and plugins
---

# Sub-sitemaps return 404 on staging

On your staging site, the sitemap index loads, but every sub-sitemap listed in it returns a 404.

**Why this happens.** This is expected behavior when the site is locked away from search engines at the SEO-plugin level. Rank Math excludes non-indexable content from its sitemaps. If the plugin's global robots setting is **noindex**, every sub-sitemap ends up empty, and an empty sub-sitemap is served as a 404.

The sitemap index still lists the files because the count query that builds the index ignores indexability. That is why the index looks healthy while every file under it fails.

Still stuck? [Contact the HomeRunner team](https://homerunner.io/contact/) with your site address and what you tried, and we take it from there.