diff --git a/ui/app/components/search-box.js b/ui/app/components/search-box.js
index 8efb5dd5e..19aa76bef 100644
--- a/ui/app/components/search-box.js
+++ b/ui/app/components/search-box.js
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ export default Component.extend({
   // Used to throttle sets to searchTerm
   debounce: 150,
 
-  classNames: ['field', 'has-addons'],
+  classNames: ['search-box', 'field', 'has-addons'],
 
   actions: {
     setSearchTerm(e) {
diff --git a/ui/app/initializers/app-token.js b/ui/app/initializers/app-token.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f8b3dcee2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/app/initializers/app-token.js
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+export function initialize() {
+  const application = arguments[1] || arguments[0];
+
+  // Provides the acl token service to all templates
+  application.inject('controller', 'token', 'service:token');
+  application.inject('component', 'token', 'service:token');
+}
+
+export default {
+  name: 'app-token',
+  initialize,
+};
diff --git a/ui/app/styles/components.scss b/ui/app/styles/components.scss
index 7832c934d..50f6ef1c8 100644
--- a/ui/app/styles/components.scss
+++ b/ui/app/styles/components.scss
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 @import "./components/badge";
 @import "./components/boxed-section";
 @import "./components/breadcrumbs";
+@import "./components/empty-message";
 @import "./components/gutter";
 @import "./components/inline-definitions";
 @import "./components/job-diff";
diff --git a/ui/app/styles/components/empty-message.scss b/ui/app/styles/components/empty-message.scss
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3f00021eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/app/styles/components/empty-message.scss
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+.empty-message {
+  padding: 1.5rem;
+  background: $white-ter;
+  border-radius: $radius;
+
+  .empty-message-headline {
+    font-size: $size-3;
+    color: $grey;
+    text-align: center;
+  }
+
+  .empty-message-body {
+    padding: 0 20%;
+    text-align: center;
+    color: $grey;
+
+    strong {
+      color: $grey;
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/ui/app/templates/jobs/index.hbs b/ui/app/templates/jobs/index.hbs
index 4ab6544fe..e5a57b38c 100644
--- a/ui/app/templates/jobs/index.hbs
+++ b/ui/app/templates/jobs/index.hbs
@@ -3,9 +3,11 @@
 {{/global-header}}
 {{#gutter-menu class="page-body"}}
   <section class="section">
-    <div class="content">
-      <div>{{search-box searchTerm=(mut searchTerm) placeholder="Search jobs..."}}</div>
-    </div>
+    {{#if model.length}}
+      <div class="content">
+        <div>{{search-box searchTerm=(mut searchTerm) placeholder="Search jobs..."}}</div>
+      </div>
+    {{/if}}
     {{#list-pagination
       source=sortedJobs
       size=pageSize
@@ -37,6 +39,18 @@
           <ul class="pagination-list"></ul>
         </nav>
       </div>
+    {{else}}
+      <div class="empty-message">
+        {{#if (eq model.length 0)}}
+          <h3 class="empty-message-headline">No Jobs</h3>
+          <p class="empty-message-body">
+            There are currently no visible jobs in the cluster. It could be that the cluster is empty. It could also mean {{#link-to "settings.tokens"}}you don't have access to see any jobs{{/link-to}}.
+          </p>
+        {{else if searchTerm}}
+          <h3 class="empty-message-headline">No Matches</h3>
+          <p class="empty-message-body">No jobs match the term <strong>{{searchTerm}}</strong></p>
+        {{/if}}
+      </div>
     {{/list-pagination}}
   </section>
 {{/gutter-menu}}
diff --git a/ui/app/templates/jobs/job/task-group.hbs b/ui/app/templates/jobs/job/task-group.hbs
index fc39e5589..bb4a0ed93 100644
--- a/ui/app/templates/jobs/job/task-group.hbs
+++ b/ui/app/templates/jobs/job/task-group.hbs
@@ -90,6 +90,13 @@
               {{#p.last class="pagination-link"}} &gt;| {{/p.last}}
             </ul>
           </nav>
+        {{else}}
+          <div class="boxed-section-body">
+            <div class="empty-message">
+              <h3 class="empty-message-headline">No Matches</h3>
+              <p class="empty-message-body">No allocations match the term <strong>{{searchTerm}}</strong></p>
+            </div>
+          </div>
         {{/list-pagination}}
       </div>
     </div>
diff --git a/ui/app/templates/nodes/index.hbs b/ui/app/templates/nodes/index.hbs
index 580adbbae..1b324c69e 100644
--- a/ui/app/templates/nodes/index.hbs
+++ b/ui/app/templates/nodes/index.hbs
@@ -3,9 +3,11 @@
 {{/global-header}}
 {{#gutter-menu class="page-body"}}
   <section class="section">
-    <div class="content">
-      <div>{{search-box searchTerm=(mut searchTerm) placeholder="Search nodes..."}}</div>
-    </div>
+    {{#if nodes.length}}
+      <div class="content">
+        <div>{{search-box searchTerm=(mut searchTerm) placeholder="Search nodes..."}}</div>
+      </div>
+    {{/if}}
     {{#list-pagination
       source=sortedNodes
       size=pageSize
@@ -38,6 +40,18 @@
           <ul class="pagination-list"></ul>
         </nav>
       </div>
+    {{else}}
+      <div class="empty-message">
+        {{#if (eq nodes.length 0)}}
+          <h3 class="empty-message-headline">No Clients</h3>
+          <p class="empty-message-body">
+            There are currently no visible nodes in the cluster. This could mean that the cluster is bootstrapped with no clients. It could also mean {{#link-to "settings.tokens"}}you don't have access to see any clients{{/link-to}}.
+          </p>
+        {{else if searchTerm}}
+          <h3 class="empty-message-headline">No Matches</h3>
+          <p class="empty-message-body">No clients match the term <strong>{{searchTerm}}</strong></p>
+        {{/if}}
+      </div>
     {{/list-pagination}}
   </section>
 {{/gutter-menu}}
diff --git a/ui/app/templates/servers.hbs b/ui/app/templates/servers.hbs
index e4d12d28b..3244a306e 100644
--- a/ui/app/templates/servers.hbs
+++ b/ui/app/templates/servers.hbs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <div class="page-layout">
   {{#global-header class="page-header"}}
-    Nodes
+    Servers
   {{/global-header}}
   {{#gutter-menu class="page-body"}}
     <section class="section">
@@ -35,6 +35,17 @@
             <ul class="pagination-list"></ul>
           </nav>
         </div>
+      {{else}}
+        <div class="empty-message">
+          <h3 class="empty-message-headline">Invalid Permissions</h3>
+          <p class="empty-message-body">
+            {{#if token.secret}}
+              Your ACL token does not grant access to see servers.
+            {{else}}
+              You have no ACL token set. {{#link-to "settings.tokens"}}Provide a token{{/link-to}} with the appropriate permissions to see servers.
+            {{/if}}
+          </p>
+        </div>
       {{/list-pagination}}
       {{outlet}}
     </section>
diff --git a/ui/tests/acceptance/jobs-list-test.js b/ui/tests/acceptance/jobs-list-test.js
index 699739fe4..36f0fb576 100644
--- a/ui/tests/acceptance/jobs-list-test.js
+++ b/ui/tests/acceptance/jobs-list-test.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import Ember from 'ember';
-import { click, findAll, currentURL, visit } from 'ember-native-dom-helpers';
+import { click, find, findAll, currentURL, visit, fillIn } from 'ember-native-dom-helpers';
 import { test } from 'qunit';
 import moduleForAcceptance from 'nomad-ui/tests/helpers/module-for-acceptance';
 
@@ -80,3 +80,30 @@ test('each job row should link to the corresponding job', function(assert) {
     assert.equal(currentURL(), `/jobs/${job.id}`);
   });
 });
+
+test('when there are no jobs, there is an empty message', function(assert) {
+  visit('/jobs');
+
+  andThen(() => {
+    assert.ok(find('.empty-message'));
+    assert.equal(find('.empty-message-headline').textContent, 'No Jobs');
+  });
+});
+
+test('when there are jobs, but no matches for a search result, there is an empty message', function(
+  assert
+) {
+  server.create('job', { name: 'cat 1' });
+  server.create('job', { name: 'cat 2' });
+
+  visit('/jobs');
+
+  andThen(() => {
+    fillIn('.search-box input', 'dog');
+  });
+
+  andThen(() => {
+    assert.ok(find('.empty-message'));
+    assert.equal(find('.empty-message-headline').textContent, 'No Matches');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/ui/tests/acceptance/nodes-list-test.js b/ui/tests/acceptance/nodes-list-test.js
index 4a6ee0301..23e1b10ed 100644
--- a/ui/tests/acceptance/nodes-list-test.js
+++ b/ui/tests/acceptance/nodes-list-test.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import Ember from 'ember';
-import { click, findAll, currentURL, visit } from 'ember-native-dom-helpers';
+import { click, find, findAll, currentURL, visit } from 'ember-native-dom-helpers';
 import { test } from 'qunit';
 import moduleForAcceptance from 'nomad-ui/tests/helpers/module-for-acceptance';
 import { findLeader } from '../../mirage/config';
@@ -75,6 +75,35 @@ test('each client should link to the client detail page', function(assert) {
   });
 });
 
+test('when there are no clients, there is an empty message', function(assert) {
+  server.createList('agent', 1);
+
+  visit('/nodes');
+
+  andThen(() => {
+    assert.ok(find('.empty-message'));
+    assert.equal(find('.empty-message-headline').textContent, 'No Clients');
+  });
+});
+
+test('when there are clients, but no matches for a search term, there is an empty message', function(
+  assert
+) {
+  server.createList('agent', 1);
+  server.create('node', { name: 'node' });
+
+  visit('/nodes');
+
+  andThen(() => {
+    fillIn('.search-box input', 'client');
+  });
+
+  andThen(() => {
+    assert.ok(find('.empty-message'));
+    assert.equal(find('.empty-message-headline').textContent, 'No Matches');
+  });
+});
+
 test('/servers should list all servers', function(assert) {
   const agentsCount = 10;
   const pageSize = 8;
@@ -141,3 +170,24 @@ test('each server should link to the server detail page', function(assert) {
     assert.equal(currentURL(), `/servers/${agent.name}`);
   });
 });
+
+test('when the API returns no agents, show an empty message', function(assert) {
+  minimumSetup();
+
+  // Override the members handler to act as if server-side permissions
+  // are preventing a qualified response.
+  server.pretender.get('/v1/agent/members', () => [
+    200,
+    {},
+    JSON.stringify({
+      Members: [],
+    }),
+  ]);
+
+  visit('/servers');
+
+  andThen(() => {
+    assert.ok(find('.empty-message'));
+    assert.equal(find('.empty-message-headline').textContent, 'Invalid Permissions');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/ui/tests/acceptance/task-group-detail-test.js b/ui/tests/acceptance/task-group-detail-test.js
index 800e57544..593412317 100644
--- a/ui/tests/acceptance/task-group-detail-test.js
+++ b/ui/tests/acceptance/task-group-detail-test.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import Ember from 'ember';
-import { click, findAll, currentURL, visit } from 'ember-native-dom-helpers';
+import { click, find, findAll, fillIn, currentURL, visit } from 'ember-native-dom-helpers';
 import { test } from 'qunit';
 import moduleForAcceptance from 'nomad-ui/tests/helpers/module-for-acceptance';
 
@@ -41,6 +41,11 @@ moduleForAcceptance('Acceptance | task group detail', {
       taskGroup: taskGroups[1].name,
     });
 
+    // Set a static name to make the search test deterministic
+    server.db.allocations.forEach(alloc => {
+      alloc.name = 'aaaaa';
+    });
+
     visit(`/jobs/${job.id}/${taskGroup.name}`);
   },
 });
@@ -212,3 +217,12 @@ test('each allocation should show stats about the allocation, retrieved directly
     `Requests ${nodeStatsUrl}`
   );
 });
+
+test('when the allocation search has no matches, there is an empty message', function(assert) {
+  fillIn('.search-box input', 'zzzzzz');
+
+  andThen(() => {
+    assert.ok(find('.allocations .empty-message'));
+    assert.equal(find('.allocations .empty-message-headline').textContent, 'No Matches');
+  });
+});