Apache Reference: http_core, AllowOverride

AllowOverride

Control Directives Allowed in Per-Directory Configuration Files
Syntax: AllowOverride override [override ...]
Example: AllowOverride AuthConfig FileInfo
Since: Apache 1.0

This directive controls which groups of other directives can be configured by per-directory configuration files (see AccessFileName). When the server finds an .htaccess file, it needs to know which directives declared in that file can override earlier access information. The argument override can be ``none,'' in which case the server will not read the file at all. If it is All, the server will accept all directives, or one or more of the following:

AuthConfig to allow the use of the authorization directives; FileInfo to allow the use of the directives controlling document types; Indexes to allow the use of the directives controlling directory indexing; Limit to allow the use of the directives controlling host access; and Options to allow the use of the directives controlling specific directory features (for instance, Options and XBitHack directives).