internal server error 500 only on files transferred over ftp not on locally created files, running ubuntu server 16.04

Question

I am running into an error with uploaded php files, they always return an http 500 error but when I write an identical file in nano on my linux machine the file works perfectly

so far I have tried changing editiors on my windows machine, uninstalling and reinstalling filezilla, I have tried vsftpd and proftpd(current is vsftpd)

Answer 1

Then your file permissions are set wrong. Try chown your webserveruser the files and chmod 755