diff --git a/nix/host-modules/hive-gateway/default.nix b/nix/host-modules/hive-gateway/default.nix
index c15f5816..c3130905 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/hive-gateway/default.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/hive-gateway/default.nix
@@ -385,6 +385,19 @@ in
       recommendedGzipSettings = true;
       recommendedOptimisation = true;
       inherit (nginxTree) virtualHosts;
+
+      # Route the error log through syslog so each line keeps its own
+      # severity. The module default is `stderr`, and systemd files that
+      # whole stream at one priority regardless of what each line says —
+      # so `journalctl -p err -u nginx` returns nothing while nginx is
+      # logging `[error]` continuously. That failure is inverted rather
+      # than merely missing: a severity filter is how you ask "is anything
+      # wrong", and it answers "no" *because* the errors are misfiled.
+      #
+      # Transport only — no level suffix, so nginx keeps its default
+      # `error` threshold and this changes where lines are filed, not
+      # which lines exist.
+      logError = "syslog:server=unix:/dev/log,nohostname,tag=nginx";
     };
 
     # ⚠️ NO `SupplementaryGroups = [ "hive-core" ]` on nginx, and its