diff --git a/internal/server/http.go b/internal/server/http.go
index c665277..876f959 100644
--- a/internal/server/http.go
+++ b/internal/server/http.go
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"log/slog"
 	"net/http"
-	"server/internal/middleware"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"server/internal/db"
+	"server/internal/middleware"
 	util "server/util"
 )
 
@@ -20,8 +20,6 @@ type HTTPServer struct {
 	DiceClient *db.DiceDB
 }
 
-// HandlerMux wraps ServeMux and forces REST paths to lowercase
-// and attaches a rate limiter with the handler
 type HandlerMux struct {
 	mux         *http.ServeMux
 	rateLimiter func(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request, http.Handler)
@@ -47,10 +45,8 @@ func errorResponse(response string) string {
 }
 
 func (cim *HandlerMux) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-	// Convert the path to lowercase before passing to the underlying mux.
 	middleware.TrailingSlashMiddleware(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		r.URL.Path = strings.ToLower(r.URL.Path)
-		// Apply rate limiter
 		cim.rateLimiter(w, r, cim.mux)
 	})).ServeHTTP(w, r)
 }
@@ -105,7 +101,7 @@ func (s *HTTPServer) HealthCheck(w http.ResponseWriter, request *http.Request) {
 func (s *HTTPServer) CliHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	diceCmd, err := util.ParseHTTPRequest(r)
 	if err != nil {
-		http.Error(w, errorResponse("error parsing http request"), http.StatusBadRequest)
+		http.Error(w, errorResponse(err.Error()), http.StatusBadRequest)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -119,7 +115,7 @@ func (s *HTTPServer) CliHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	respStr, ok := resp.(string)
 	if !ok {
 		slog.Error("error: response is not a string", "error", slog.Any("err", err))
-		http.Error(w, errorResponse("internal Server Error"), http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		http.Error(w, errorResponse("internal server error"), http.StatusInternalServerError)
 		return
 	}
 
diff --git a/util/helpers.go b/util/helpers.go
index 20a605a..3e3aea8 100644
--- a/util/helpers.go
+++ b/util/helpers.go
@@ -14,6 +14,37 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 )
 
+// Map of blocklisted commands
+var blocklistedCommands = map[string]bool{
+	"FLUSHALL":     true,
+	"FLUSHDB":      true,
+	"DUMP":         true,
+	"ABORT":        true,
+	"AUTH":         true,
+	"CONFIG":       true,
+	"SAVE":         true,
+	"BGSAVE":       true,
+	"BGREWRITEAOF": true,
+	"RESTORE":      true,
+	"MULTI":        true,
+	"EXEC":         true,
+	"DISCARD":      true,
+	"QWATCH":       true,
+	"QUNWATCH":     true,
+	"LATENCY":      true,
+	"CLIENT":       true,
+	"SLEEP":        true,
+	"PERSIST":      true,
+}
+
+// BlockListedCommand checks if a command is blocklisted
+func BlockListedCommand(cmd string) error {
+	if _, exists := blocklistedCommands[strings.ToUpper(cmd)]; exists {
+		return errors.New("ERR unknown command '" + cmd + "'")
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // ParseHTTPRequest parses an incoming HTTP request and converts it into a CommandRequest for Redis commands
 func ParseHTTPRequest(r *http.Request) (*cmds.CommandRequest, error) {
 	command := extractCommand(r.URL.Path)
@@ -21,6 +52,11 @@ func ParseHTTPRequest(r *http.Request) (*cmds.CommandRequest, error) {
 		return nil, errors.New("invalid command")
 	}
 
+	// Check if the command is blocklisted
+	if err := BlockListedCommand(command); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	args, err := newExtractor(r)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err