Currently Nuxt.js uses serve-static as a middleware for static files. This can be offloaded to nginx for efficiency.
Basically, the code here needs to be documented.
<!--cmty--><!--cmty_prevent_hook--><div align="right"><sub><em>This feature request is available on <a href="https://nuxtjs.cmty.io">Nuxt.js</a> community (<a href="https://nuxtjs.cmty.io/nuxt/nuxt.js/issues/c2186">#c2186</a>)</em></sub></div>