On certain server setups, why is the & symbol in my JavaScript URL string changed to #038;?

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This is because the & symbol is used as a special character in HTML to separate different parameters in a URL string. When the URL is passed to the server, it is encoded to ensure that it is properly interpreted as HTML. The & symbol is encoded as #038; to prevent it from being misinterpreted as a parameter separator. This is typically done by server-side software or content-management systems.