What is this bittorrent all about anyway? How do I get the files?

Check out Torrents 101: How Torrent Downloading Works

What is DHT and Why must i turn it off?

DHT must be disabled in your client, DHT can cause your stats to be recorded incorrectly and could be seen as cheating

More information in the Downloading section

How can i use your rss feeds?

You can generate an RSS link by using this page, Click Here for Link to SceneTime RSS You must be a Power User or above to use RSS.

What are the benefits of donating?

Donating to the site will help the site stay alive which will keep the releases coming to you each day.

Where does the donated money go?

SceneTime's server costs are several hundred dollars each month, so any donated money goes to server costs to keep this site running.

What does [UNRAR] mean on a torrent?

It means that the files have already been uncompressed for you.

How to ask for a reseed on a torrent?

There is a request section in the forums

https://www.scenetime.com/forums.php?action=viewforum&subforumid=25&forumid=127

How long must I seed a downloaded torrent

For every torrent you download you're required to seed it back for a ratio of 1:1 or 72 hours minimum. Failure to do so will result in a Hit and Run warning.

How Long Does My IPTV/VOD Last

Access to IPTV/VOD is a perk/benefit of donating to the site. Your access to the IPTV/VOD will last as long as your donor status lasts.

I registered an account but did not receive the confirmation e-mail!

If you registered an account and are reading this then you have already got access to SceneTime. If you are trying to register a second account that is against our rules.

What is a Hit and Run (HnR) and why do I see this message ?

Scenetime is a ratio-based tracker which means you need to seed back whatever you grab from the site, either to a 1.1 ratio or 72 hours. So, this means if you grab a 1 gig file, you need to keep it seeding/running in your client until either you have seeded to someone else 1.0 gigs or for 72 hours total.

You can read more about SceneTime Hit and Run By Clicking Here

Can GB be given to another user?

No, GB can not be given to a user.

Can you rename my account?

No. We do not rename accounts. An account would only be renamed if it contains bad language.

Can you delete my account?

NO, we do not delete accounts. You can stop using your account at any time and it will be deleted by the system eventually

My IP address is dynamic. How do I stay logged in?

You do not have to anymore. All you have to do is make sure you are logged in with your actual
IP when starting a torrent session. After that, even if the IP changes mid-session,
the seeding or leeching will continue and the statistics will update without any problem.

How do I add an avatar to my profile?

First, find an image that you like, and that is within the Rules. Then you will have
to find a place to host it, such as  IMGUR. (Other popular choices are Photobucket, Upload-It! or
ImageShack).

All that is left to do is copy the URL you were given when uploading it to the avatar field in your Profile

Please do not make a post just to test your avatar. If everything is alright you'll see it
in your details page.

So, what's MY ratio?

Click on your user name (at the top left of your screen).

It's important to distinguish between your overall ratio and the individual ratio on each torrent
you may be seeding or leeching. The overall ratio takes into account the total uploaded and downloaded
from your account since you joined the site. The individual ratio takes into account those values for each torrent.

You may see two symbols instead of a number: "Inf", which is just an abbreviation for Infinity, and
means that you have downloaded 0 bytes while uploading a non-zero amount (ul/dl becomes infinity); "--",
which should be read as "non-available", and shows up when you have both downloaded and uploaded 0 bytes
(ul/dl = 0/0 which is an indeterminate amount).

What are the different user classes?

User
The default class when joining, it has the least access to features on the site.
Power User
The main user class when using SceneTime, has access to the main site features.

Member has donated to SceneTime.
VIP
VIP's are members who have donated to SceneTime, or been nominated by staff. They are Immune to automatic demotion, Hit and Run and account deletion during VIP period.
Uploader
A member on SceneTime with upload rights, immune to automatic demotion.
Legend
A member whose contributions to the site are considered "Legendary".
Torrent Editor
Can edit any uploaded torrents.
Moderator
Can edit uploaded torrents, edit, delete and moderate any post or topic in the Forums.
Global-Moderator
Can edit and delete any uploaded torrents. Has all the abilities of a Moderator and can also moderate user comments and disable accounts.
Administrator
Can do just about anything.
SysOp
System Operator
SceneTime
System Operator, SceneTime God and Site Owner

What happens after VIP status is over?

Once VIP status is over the immunity to automatic demotion ends and the donation star Star disappears.
You'll demoted to the user class you were prior to donating until you donate again.

How does this promotion thing work anyway?

Power User - Must have been be a member for at least 28 Days, have uploaded at least 30 GB, and have a download amount and a ratio equal of at least 1.05.
The promotion is automatic when these conditions are met.
Note:You will be automatically demoted from this status if your ratio drops below 0.95 at any time.
Star - Just donate you will become a VIP member and get a heart which shows your support to Scenetime
VIP - Assigned when a user donates to the site.
Also assigned by Administrators at their discretion to users they feel contribute something special to the site.
(Anyone begging for VIP status will be automatically disqualified.)
Torrent Editor - Appointed by SceneTime Staff. If you are interested in helping, submit your interest
Uploader - Appointed by staff team after applying for uploader application. (see the 'Uploading' section for conditions).
Legend - Appointed by staff to members they feel deserve the status, after discussion by staff.
Moderator/Global Moderator/Administrator/SysOp - You don't ask us, we'll ask you!

How do I increase my ratio?

There are many ways to raise your ratio so it shouldn't be a hard thing to do. You need to stop downloading so your ratio won't decrease anymore. Seed whatever torrents you have already downloaded and while seeding you are getting bonus points which can be traded for gb uploaded. There are also free leech torrents which only count the upload data. You can also donate to SceneTime and increase your ratio that way.

What is the minimum ratio I should keep?

Every user has obligation to keep his ratio any time above 1.0 Once your ratio is below 0.4 you will receive a warning from the system. The warning will be automatically removed by the system once your ratio reaches 1.0 again.

I've lost my user name or password! Can you send it to me?

Please use this form to have the login details mailed back to you.

If the form doesn't work then email scenetimehelp@gmail.com. This problem sometimes occurs with MSIE. Close all Internet Explorer windows and open Internet Options in the control panel. Click the Delete Cookies button. You should now be able to login.

Hey! I've seen Power Users with less than 25GB uploaded!

The Power User limit used to be 25 GB, when it was lowered to 10 GB no one was demoted.

Power User requirements - Must have been be a member for at least 28 Days, must have uploaded at least 30 GB with a ratio equal of at least 1.05.
The promotion is automatic when these conditions are met.

What's a "passkey"?

A passkey is a 32 character key associated with your account that uniquely identifies you as a SceneTime.com user. When a .torrent file is downloaded from your account, the passkey is automatically added to the announce URL in the .torrent file. If you suspect your passkey had been compromised contact a Staff Member by Clicking Here
Make sure you keep your passkey private at all times.

What's this "Reset passkey" option and how can it be done?

This option is used to generate a new passkey for your account but can only be done by a upper staff member so you can either pm any of the Global Moderators, Administrators, or SysOps.
Remember that the passkey uniquely identifies you, therefore if someone would learn it they would be able to leech from your account. Should you suspect your key from being compromised contact a Staff Member Click Here requesting a new one.

Note that by using this you will invalidate all the .torrent files that you may have previously downloaded, and will have to download them again.

Can bonus points or invitations be traded to another user?

No, bonus points or invitations can not be traded to another user on the site.

How long must I be a member Before I can use a invitation?

You must be a member for 1 month, have a ratio 1.0 or above and be a Power User.
The maximum invites you can have is 3

How do I make a request

Simple, at the top of the page there is a "Request" tab, hover your mouse over it, then select either "Browse" or "Create".
You must be a Power User to make requests

Requests not filled after 2 months are automatically deleted and the Bonus Points returned to the requester

What is the color scheme in my Seeding List

Seeding List ;
Green: You have met the seeding requirements.
Red: You have not met the seeding requirements.

Leeching List ;
Blue: You have met the seeding requirements.
Pink: You have not met the seeding requirements.

In either list ;
Yellow: Torrent you have uploaded.

Why can't I see XXX torrents

Edit your profile

You need to un-check the box before Filter xXx

Why is my IP displayed on my details page

Only you and the site moderators can view your IP address and email. Regular users do not see that information.

Most common reason for stats not updating

The user is cheating. (a.k.a. "Summary Ban")
The server is overloaded and unresponsive. Just try to keep the session open until the server responds again. (Flooding the server with consecutive manual updates is not recommended.)
You are using a faulty client. If you want to use an experimental or CVS version you do it at your own risk.

What are bonus points and how can I get them?

Bonus points are an extra bonus that you get for seeding torrents. To get bonus points you need to have the complete torrent which includes all txt/nfo documents, samples, and subtitles.
Bonus Points Explained Here

0.2 points, per seeding torrent, per hour.
The maximum you get Bonus Points for is 20 torrents (unless you are a VIP).
VIPs get points for up to 30 torrents, but the extra 10 only get 0.1 Bonus Points per torrent, per hour.


To see how many points you have and what they can be used for Click Here.

Best practices

If a torrent you are currently leeching/seeding is not listed on your profile, just wait or force a manual update.
Make sure you exit your client properly, so that the tracker receives "event completed".
If the tracker is down, do not stop seeding. As long as the tracker is back up before you exit the client the stats should update properly.

May I use any bittorrent client?

No. The following torrent clients below are banned by the tracker:

The following list of torrent clients have been proven to be reporting 'Bad Data' to our tracker (something we could mistake as evidence of cheating) and are thereby banned for use here.

ABC
AceStream (All Versions)
Ares
aria2/1.9.0
Azureus/Vuze
BiglyBT (Tested 12/24/2019)
BitComet (all versions)
BitLet.org/0.1
Bitlord
BTuga
Cloud based servers, Any Client, Any version.
Cloud-Torrent
FinalTorrent
Freebox BitTorret
GnomeBT
Justseed.it - Any client, Any version
JS0900 client of above
Ktorrent (All versions)
NSPlayer/ 9.0.0.2000
qbit version 4.04 *** do not use - known issues seeding (Don't confuse this with qBittorrent)
Safetytorrent.com - Any Client, Any Version
SymTorrent
Transmission  - versions below 2.92
Thunderbird (All versions)
uTorrent/ 3.5.5(111915347)(45)
wmTorrent 2.1.6 (wmTorrent 2.1.0.6)
WMTR
Zona

Mobile phones and clients should not be used.

These clients do not report correctly to the tracker when canceling/finishing a torrent session.

Also, clients in alpha or beta version should be avoided.

Whenever users are found to be using these, you will receive a PM 1 time informing you that you need to change your torrent client to one of the approved clients listed above. Failure to do so will result in your account being suspended.

For the following below, If your stats do not report correctly (ie. you are missing some upload) do not contact us. We will not do anything about it.
You will be asked 1 time to fix it. If it happens again, you will have to change the client or you will be disabled.

Transmission  - versions below 2.92
qbit version 4.04 *** do not use - known issues seeding (Don't confuse this with qBittorrent))

The following torrent clients are permitted:Click Here for Link to approved clients

Why is a torrent I'm leeching/seeding listed several times in my profile?

If for some reason (e.g. pc crash, or frozen client) your client exits improperly and you restart it,
it will have a new peer_id, so it will show as a new torrent. The old one will never receive a "event completed",
or "event stopped" and will be listed until some tracker timeout. Just ignore it, it will eventually go away.

I've finished or cancelled a torrent. Why is it still listed in my profile?

Some clients, notably Torrent Storm and Nova Torrent, do not report properly to the tracker when canceling or finishing a torrent.
In that case the tracker will keep waiting for some message - and thus listing the torrent as seeding or leeching - until some
timeout occurs. Just ignore it, it will eventually go away.

Why do I sometimes see torrents I'm not leeching in my profile!?

When a torrent is first started, the tracker uses the IP to identify the user. Therefore the torrent will
become associated with the user who last accessed the site from that IP. If you share your IP in some
way (you are behind NAT/ICS, or using a proxy), and some of the persons you share it with are also users,
you may occasionally see their torrents listed in your profile. (If they start a torrent session from that
IP and you were the last one to visit the site the torrent will be associated with you). Note that now
torrents listed in your profile will always count towards your total stats.

Multiple IPs (Can I login from different computers?)

Yes, the tracker is now capable of following sessions from different IPs for the same user. A torrent is associated with the user when it starts, and only at that moment is the IP relevant. So if you want to seed/leech from computer A and computer B with the same account you should access the site from computer A, start the torrent there, and then repeat both steps from computer B (not limited to two computers or to a single torrent on each, this is just the simplest example). You do not need to login again when closing the torrent.

How does NAT/ICS change the picture?

This is a very particular case in that all computers in the LAN will appear to the outside world as having the same IP. We must distinguish
between two cases:
1. You are the single SceneTime.com users in the LAN.
You should use the same SceneTime.com account on all the computers.
Note also that in the ICS case it is preferable to run the BT client on the ICS gateway. Clients running on the other computers
will be un-connectable (their ports will be listed as "---", as explained elsewhere in the FAQ) unless you specify
the appropriate services in your ICS configuration).
In the NAT case you should configure different ranges for clients on different computers and create appropriate NAT rules in the router. (Details vary widely from router to router and are outside the scope of this FAQ. Check your router documentation and/or support forum.)
2. There are multiple SceneTime users in the LAN
Each torrent will be associated with the user's IP and passkey. The stats for each user should be recorded accurately because the stats depend on both to function properly

It is your LAN, the responsibility is yours. Do not ask us to ban other users
with the same IP, we will not do that. (Why should we ban him instead of you?)

HELP, SAVE MY RATIO!!!

Honestly, The smart way to make sure you don't hurt yourself and cause issues, spend the first few days getting Freeleech torrents and focus on your ratio before getting the shows and movies you want! If you set yourself up good in the start, you can ride it out and not have issues.
Read more about ratio Click Here

Why do the stats for my torrents not match up with the stats of my torrent client?

There are a few reasons why the stats don't match. The data shown on the site is a session which means opening and closing your torrent client will use multiple sessions so not all the data will be shown like it is in your torrent client. Also Details.php is not showing correct upload amount, it does but it takes a long time. If you want to see correct uploaded amount, you should click on your username, it will redirect you to userdetails.php, there you can review your exact uploaded amount. Details.php is updating all peers every 25-30 minute.

Why am I listed as not connectable? (And why should I care?)

The tracker has determined that you are firewalled or NATed and cannot accept incoming connections.

This means that other peers in the swarm will be unable to connect to you, only you to them. Even worse, if two peers are both in this state they will not be able to connect at all. This has obviously a detrimental effect on the overall speed.

The way to solve the problem involves opening the ports used for incoming connections (the same range you defined in your client) on the firewall and/or configuring your NAT server to use a basic form of NAT for that range instead of NAPT (the actual process differs widely between different router models. Check your router documentation as there are several different types we can not cover them all. You will also find lots of information on the subject at Port Forwarding

What do i do to a torrent i cannot seed but have a H&R warning from?

Donation will clear these immediately, or you can zap any torrent from your list by clicking the Required seeding Link.

Why can't I upload torrents?

Only members appointed by SceneTime.com Staff (see the 'Uploading' section for conditions) have permission to upload torrents.

What criteria must I meet before I can join the Uploader team?

To be able to upload your own torrents you need to apply to be an uploader, click here. Below are the requirements needed to be on the SceneTime.com Uploader team:

* You MUST be a member of SceneTime for at least 1 month and have a good ratio (1.0 or above), and you MUST have done some seeding as well, you also must not have any Hit and Runs. Submission of a application just to fill requests will not be approved.

You must be able to provide releases that;
* All uploads must include a detailed description, to include media (.nfo) and screenshots. Failure to do so will result in your demotion
* No nasty files!
* All files must be in a legitimate format so they are functional.
* Pre-release stuff should be labeled with an *ALPHA* or *BETA* tag.
* Make sure not to include any serial numbers, CD keys or similar in the description (you do not need to edit the NFO!).
* Must seed your torrents for 72 hours and or a 1:1 ratio
* Have an upload speed of 800 KBps (6.4 Mbps) or higher
* Do not include the release date in the torrent name.
* do not add other tracker on nfo file.

If one of those is not possible then you will not be added to the uploader team. We have requirements so our users have an enjoyable time here without having extremely slow torrents that take a long time to download

If you have something interesting that somehow violate these rules, ask a member of the staff and we might make an exception.

Can I upload your torrents to other trackers?

No. We are a closed, limited-membership community. Only registered users can use the SceneTime tracker.
Posting our torrents on other trackers is useless, since most people who attempt to download them will
be unable to connect with us. This generates a lot of frustration and bad-will against us at SceneTime,
and will therefore not be tolerated.

Complaints from other sites' administrative staff about our torrents being posted on their sites will
result in the banning of the users responsible.

(However, the files you download from us are yours to do as you please. You can always create another
torrent, pointing to some other tracker, and upload it to the site of your choice.)

What rules must I follow to remain part of the Uploader team?

* All uploads must include a detailed description (media .nfo and screenshots)
* No nasty files!
* All files must be in a legitimate format so they are functional.
* Pre-release stuff should be labeled with an *ALPHA* or *BETA* tag.
* Make sure not to include any serial numbers, CD keys or similar in the description (you do not need to edit the NFO!).
* Make sure your torrents are well-seeded for at least 72 hours.
* You should have at least 800 KBps (6.4 Mbps) upload bandwidth.
* Do not include the release date in the torrent name.
* Do not add other tracker on nfo file.

If you have something interesting that somehow violate these rules, ask a member of the staff and we might make an exception.

Downloaded a movie and don't know what CAM/TS/TC/SCR means?

Check out This topic, click here

Why did an active torrent suddenly disappear?

There may be three reasons for this:
1) The torrent may have been out-of-sync with the site rules
2) The uploader may have deleted it because it was a bad release. A replacement will probably be uploaded to take its place.
3) Torrents are automatically deleted after 28 days.

How do I resume a broken download or reseed something?

Here i will explain the simple way of re adding a torrent to utorrent that you have previously removed, or have lost due to a system crash.

Ok how to start:-

Open C:\Users\Your User Name Here\AppData\Roaming\uTorrent

Here you should see a copy of every torrent you have downloaded since you last did a clean on your system.

Cross check this with the data you downloaded to match this torrent. check where it downloads and make sure it is still there.

Now you know they are still there we can begin..

Open Utorrent,

Click File

Add Torrent No Default Save,

Now navigate the folder to the above address:- C:\Users\Your User Name Here\AppData\Roaming\uTorrent

Select the .torrent file you still have the original data for and click Open

Next it will ask you where you want to save the .torrent when it downloads,

Navigate the folder to where you have the torrent already downloaded and click Select Folder

Next it will re add the torrent to your client and start checking the existing data.

If the torrent is a large one it will take a little while.

When the file is 100% and that it is seeding, now all you have to hope for is the file is wanted by someone else and it will start to upload.

This can be repeated as many times as you like.

If you have all your downloads in one folder and you have multiple torrents you want to re add.

Set your download location to point to that download folder....

Then Go to :- C:\Users\Your User Name Here\AppData\Roaming\uTorrent

Highlight all the torrents you want to re add, and Drag and Drop them into the Utorrent main window.

If you have done this right, all the newly added torrent will say Checking 1% - 2% - 3% and so on.

This will continue until all the torrents have checked the data matches the torrent meta data and seeding shall begin.

That's it, the .torrent is seeding, if it is required to, it will start uploading

Open the .torrent file. When your client asks you for a location, choose the location of the existing file(s) and it will resume/reseed the torrent.

Why do my downloads sometimes stall at 99%?

The more pieces you have, the harder it becomes to find peers who have pieces you are missing. That is why downloads sometimes slow down or even stall when there are just a few percent remaining. Just be patient and you will, sooner or later, get the remaining pieces.

What are these "a piece has failed an hash check" messages?

Bittorrent clients check the data they receive for integrity. When a piece fails this check it is
automatically re-downloaded. Occasional hash fails are a common occurrence, and you shouldn't worry.
Some clients have an (advanced) option/preference to 'kick/ban clients that send you bad data' or
similar. It should be turned on, since it makes sure that if a peer repeatedly sends you pieces that
fail the hash check it will be ignored in the future.

The torrent is supposed to be 100MB. How come I downloaded 120MB?

See the hash fails topic. If your client receives bad data it will have to redownload it, therefore
the total downloaded may be larger than the torrent size. Make sure the"kick/ban" option is turned on
to minimize the extra downloads.

Why do I get a "Not authorized (xx h) - READ THE FAQ" error?

From the time that each new torrent is uploaded to the tracker, there is a period of time that some users must wait before they can download it.
This delay in downloading will only affect users with a low ratio, and users with low upload amounts.

Ratio below 0.50 and/or upload below 5.0 GB delay of 48Hr
Ratio below 0.65 and/or upload below 6.5 GB delay of 24Hr
Ratio below 0.80 and/or upload below 8.0 GB delay of 12Hr
Ratio below 0.95 and/or upload below 9.5 GB delay of 6Hr
And/or means any or both. Your delay will be the largest one for which you meet at least one condition.

This applies to new users as well, so opening a new account will not help. Note also that this works at tracker level, you will be able to grab the .torrent file itself at any time.
The delay applies only to leeching, not to seeding. If you got the files from any other source and wish to seed them you may do so at any time respectively of your ratio or total uploaded.

Due to some users exploiting the 'no-delay-for-seeders' policy we had to change it. The delay
now applies to both seeding and leeching. So if you are subject to a delay and get the files from
some other source you will not be able to seed them until the delay has elapsed.

Why do I get a "rejected by tracker - Port xxxx is blacklisted" error?

Your client is reporting to the tracker that it uses one of the default bittorrent ports
(6881-6889) or any other common p2p port for incoming connections.

TorrentBits does not allow clients to use ports commonly associated with p2p protocols.
The reason for this is that it is a common practice for ISPs to throttle those ports
(that is, limit the bandwidth, hence the speed).

The blocked ports list include, but is not necessarily limited to, the following:
Direct Connect 411 - 413
Kazaa 1214
eDonkey 4662
Gnutella 6346 - 6347
BitTorrent 6881 - 6889

In order to use use our tracker you must  configure your client to use
any port range that does not contain those ports (a range within the region 49152 through 65535 is preferable,
This Reference IANA.

Notice that some clients, like Azureus 2.0.7.0 or higher, use a single port for all torrents, while most others use one port per open torrent. The size of the range you choose should take this into account (typically less than 10 ports wide. There is no benefit whatsoever in choosing a wide range, and there are possible security implications).
These ports are used for connections between peers, not client to tracker.
Therefore this change will not interfere with your ability to use other trackers (in fact it
should increase your speed with torrents from any tracker, not just ours). Your client
will also still be able to connect to peers that are using the standard ports.
If your client does not allow custom ports to be used, you will have to switch to one that does.
Do not ask us, or in the forums, which ports you should choose. The more random the choice is the harder
it will be for ISPs to catch on to us and start limiting speeds on the ports we use.
If we simply define another range ISPs will start throttling that range also.

Finally, remember to forward the chosen ports in your router and/or open them in your
firewall, should you have them.

What's this "IOError - [Errno13] Permission denied" error?

If you just want to fix it reboot your computer, it should solve the problem.
Otherwise read on.
IO Error means Input-Output Error, and that is a file system error, not a tracker one.
It shows up when your client is for some reason unable to open the partially downloaded
torrent files. The most common cause is two instances of the client to be running
simultaneously:
the last time the client was closed it somehow didn't really close but kept running in the
background, and is therefore still locking the files, making it impossible for the new instance to open them.

A more uncommon occurrence is a corrupted FAT. A crash may result in corruption
that makes the partially downloaded files unreadable, and the error ensues. Running
scan disk should solve the problem. (Note that this may happen only if you're running
Windows 9x - which only support FAT - or NT/2000/XP with FAT formatted hard drives.
NTFS is much more robust and should never permit this problem.)

Do not immediately jump on new torrents

The download speed mostly depends on the seeder-to-leecher ratio (SLR). Poor download speed is
mainly a problem with new and very popular torrents where the SLR is low

(Proselytizing side note: make sure you remember that you did not enjoy the low speed.
Seed so that others will not endure the same.)

There are a couple of things that you can try on your end to improve your speed:
In particular, do not do it if you have a slow connection. The best speeds will be found around the
half-life of a torrent, when the SLR will be at its highest. (The downside is that you will not be able to seed
so much. It's up to you to balance the pros and cons of this.)

Limit your upload speed

The upload speed affects the download speed in essentially two ways:

* Bittorrent peers tend to favor those other peers that upload to them. This means that if A and B
are leeching the same torrent and A is sending data to B at high speed then B will try to reciprocate.
So due to this effect high upload speeds lead to high download speeds.
 
* Due to the way TCP works, when A is downloading something from B it has to keep telling B that
it received the data sent to him. (These are called acknowledgements - ACKs -, a sort of "got it!" messages).
If A fails to do this then B will stop sending data and wait. If A is uploading at full speed there may be no
bandwidth left for the ACKs and they will be delayed. So due to this effect excessively high upload speeds lead
to low download speeds.


The full effect is a combination of the two. The upload should be kept as high as possible while allowing the
ACKs to get through without delay. A good thumb rule is keeping the upload at about 80% of the theoretical
upload speed. You will have to fine tune yours to find out what works best for you. (Remember that keeping the
upload high has the additional benefit of helping with your ratio.)

If you are running more than one instance of a client it is the overall upload speed that you must take into account.
Some clients (e.g. Azureus) limit global upload speed, others (e.g. Shad0w's) do it on a per torrent basis.
Know your client. The same applies if you are using your connection for anything else (e.g. browsing or ftp),
always think of the overall upload speed.

Limit the number of simultaneous connections

Some operating systems (like Windows 9x) do not deal well with a large number of connections, and may even crash.
Also some home routers (particularly when running NAT and/or firewall with stateful inspection services) tend to become
slow or crash when having to deal with too many connections. There are no fixed values for this, you may try 60 or 100
and experiment with the value. Note that these numbers are additive, if you have two instances of a client running the numbers add up.

Limit the number of simultaneous uploads

Isn't this the same as above? No. Connections limit the number of peers your client is talking to and/or
downloading from. Uploads limit the number of peers your client is actually uploading to. The ideal number is
typically much lower than the number of connections, and highly dependent on your (physical) connection.

Just give it some time

As explained above peers favour other peers that upload to them. When you start leeching a new torrent you have
nothing to offer to other peers and they will tend to ignore you. This makes the starts slow, in particular if,
by change, the peers you are connected to include few or no seeders. The download speed should increase as soon
as you have some pieces to share.

Why is my browsing so slow while leeching?

Your download speed is always finite. If you are a peer in a fast torrent it will almost certainly saturate your
download bandwidth, and your browsing will suffer. At the moment there is no client that allows you to limit the
download speed, only the upload. You will have to use a third-party solution,
such as NetLimiter
Browsing was used just as an example, the same would apply to gaming, IMing, etc...

Make yourself connectable

See the Why am I listed as not connectable?  section.

What is a proxy?

Basically a middleman. When you are browsing a site through a proxy your requests are sent to the proxy and the proxy
forwards them to the site instead of you connecting directly to the site. There are several classifications
(the terminology is far from standard):

Transparent
A transparent proxy is one that needs no configuration on the clients. It works by automatically redirecting all port 80 traffic to the proxy. (Sometimes used as synonymous for non-anonymous.)

Explicit/Voluntary
Clients must configure their browsers to use them.

Anonymous
The proxy sends no client identification to the server. (HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR header is not sent; the server does not see your IP.)

Highly Anonymous
The proxy sends no client nor proxy identification to the server. (HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR, HTTP_VIA and HTTP_PROXY_CONNECTION headers are not sent; the server doesn't see your IP and doesn't even know you're using a proxy.)

Public
(Self explanatory)

A transparent proxy may or may not be anonymous, and there are several levels of anonymity.

How do I find out if I'm behind a (transparent/anonymous) proxy?

Try ProxyJudge. It lists the HTTP headers that the server where it is running
received from you. The relevant ones are HTTP_CLIENT_IP, HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR and REMOTE_ADDR.

Why is my port listed as "---" even though I'm not NAT/Fire walled?

The Torrent Bits tracker is quite smart at finding your real IP, but it does need the proxy to send the HTTP header
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR. If your ISP's proxy does not then what happens is that the tracker will interpret the proxy's IP
address as the client's IP address. So when you login and the tracker tries to connect to your client to see if you are
NAT/fire walled it will actually try to connect to the proxy on the port your client reports to be using for
incoming connections. Naturally the proxy will not be listening on that port, the connection will fail and the
tracker will think you are NAT/fire walled.

Can I bypass my ISP's proxy?

If your ISP only allows HTTP traffic through port 80 or blocks the usual proxy ports then you would need to use something
like socks and that is outside the scope of this FAQ.

The site accepts connections on port 81 besides the usual 80, and using them may be enough to fool some proxies. So the first
thing to try should be connecting to www.torrentbits.org:81. Note that even if this works your bt client will still try
to connect to port 80 unless you edit the announce url in the .torrent file.

Otherwise you may try the following:

* Choose any public non-anonymous proxy that does not use port 80
(e.g. from this, this or this list).

* Configure your computer to use that proxy. For Windows XP, do Start, Control Panel, Internet Options,
Connections, LAN Settings, Use a Proxy server, Advanced and type in the IP and port of your chosen
proxy. Or from Internet Explorer use Tools, Internet Options, ...

(Facultative) Visit ProxyJudge. If you see an HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR in
the list followed by your IP then everything should be ok, otherwise choose another proxy and try again.

Visit TorrentBits. Hopefully the tracker will now pickup your real IP (check your profile to make sure).

Notice that now you will be doing all your browsing through a public proxy, which are typically quite slow.
Communications between peers do not use port 80 so their speed will not be affected by this, and should be better than when
you were "unconnectable".

How do I make my bittorrent client use a proxy?

Just configure Windows XP as above. When you configure a proxy for Internet Explorer you're actually configuring a proxy for
all HTTP traffic (thank Microsoft and their "IE as part of the OS policy"). On the other hand if you use another
browser (Opera/Mozilla/Firefox) and configure a proxy there you'll be configuring a proxy just for that browser. We don't
know of any BT client that allows a proxy to be specified explicitly.

Why can't I signup from behind a proxy?

It is our policy not to allow new accounts to be opened from behind a proxy.

Does this apply to other torrent sites?

This section was written for SceneTime, and we do not comment on other trackers.

Maybe my address is blacklisted?

The site blocks addresses listed in the (former) PeerGuardian
database, as well as addresses of banned users. This works at Apache/PHP level, it's just a script that
blocks logins from those addresses. It should not stop you from reaching the site. In particular
it does not block lower level protocols, you should be able to ping/traceroute the server even if your
address is blacklisted. If you cannot then the reason for the problem lies elsewhere..

If somehow your address is indeed blocked in the PG database do not contact us about it, it is not our
policy to open ad hoc exceptions. You should clear your IP with the database maintainers instead.

Your ISP blocks the site's address

(In first place, it's unlikely your ISP is doing so. DNS name resolution and/or network problems are the usual culprits.)

There's nothing we can do.
You should contact your ISP (or get a new one). Note that you can still visit the site via a proxy, follow the instructions
in the relevant section. In this case it doesn't matter if the proxy is anonymous or not, or which port it listens to.

Notice that you will always be listed as an "Unconnectable" client because the tracker will be unable to
check that you're capable of accepting incoming connections.

Alternate port (81)

Some of our torrents use ports other than the usual HTTP port 80. This may cause problems for some users,
for instance those behind some firewall or proxy configurations.

You can easily solve this by editing the .torrent file yourself with any torrent editor, e.g. MakeTorrent,
and replacing the announce url torrentbits.org:81 with torrentbits.org:80 or just torrentbits.org.

Editing the .torrent with Notepad is not recommended. It may look like a text file, but it is in fact
a bencoded file. If for some reason you must use a plain text editor, change the announce url to
torrentbits.org:80, not torrentbits.org. (If you're thinking about changing the number before the
announce url instead, you know too much to be reading this.)

You can try these:

Post in the Forums, by all means. You'll find they are usually a friendly and helpful place,
provided you follow a few basic guidelines:

* Make sure your problem is not really in this FAQ. There's no point in posting just to be sent
back here.

* Before posting read the sticky topics (the ones at the top). Many times new information that
still hasn't been incorporated in the FAQ can be found there.

* Help us in helping you. Do not just say "it doesn't work!". Provide details so that we don't
have to guess or waste time asking. What client do you use? What's your OS? What's your network setup? What's the exact
error message you get, if any? What are the torrents you are having problems with? The more
you tell the easiest it will be for us, and the more probable your post will get a reply.

* And needless to say: be polite. Demanding help rarely works, asking for it usually does
the trick.