You can send a kill with a HUP to reload the configs its documented on the
nginx wiki
On Nov 11, 2012 2:14 PM, "MarkA" <nginx-forum@nginx.us> wrote:

> Hello all I am new to nginx and wanted to confirm if my understanding is
> correct. To retart nginx like any other service would cause downtime. If I
> change nginx configurations I can do a reload to cause the new
> configurations to take effect without any downtime to my site is that
> correct?
>
> Posted at Nginx Forum:
> http://forum.nginx.org/read.php?2,232706,232706#msg-232706
>
> _______________________________________________
> nginx mailing list
> nginx@nginx.org
> http://mailman.nginx.org/mailman/listinfo/nginx
>
_______________________________________________
nginx mailing list
nginx@nginx.org
http://mailman.nginx.org/mailman/listinfo/nginx