BitTorrent tracker
server which keeps records of seeds and peers of torrent files
A BitTorrent tracker is a special type of server that assists in the communication between peers using the BitTorrent protocol.
In peer-to-peer file sharing, a software client on an end-user PC requests a file, and portions of the requested file residing on peer machines are sent to the client, and then reassembled into a full copy of the requested file. The "tracker" server keeps track of where file copies reside on peer machines, which ones are available at time of the client request, and helps coordinate efficient transmission and reassembly of the copied file. Clients that have already begun downloading a file communicate with the tracker periodically to negotiate faster file transfer with new peers, and provide network performance statistics; however, after the initial peer-to-peer file download is started, peer-to-peer communication can continue without the connection to a tracker.
Modern BitTorrent clients may implement a distributed hash table and the peer exchange protocol to discover peers without trackers; however, trackers are still often included with torrents to improve the speed of peer discovery.
Public vs private trackers
Public trackers
Public or open trackers can be used by anyone by adding the tracker address to an existing torrent, or they can be used by any newly created torrent, like OpenBitTorrent. The Pirate Bay operated one of the most popular public trackers until disabling it in 2009 due to legal trouble.
Private trackers
A private tracker is a BitTorrent tracker that restricts use by requiring users to register with the site. The method for controlling registration used among many private trackers is an invitation system, in which active and contributing members are given the ability to grant a new user permission to register at the site, or a new user goes through an interview process.
Legal issues
Legal uses
There are several circumstances under which it is legal to distribute copyrighted material or parts thereof.
“BitTorrent tracker” enters the record as server which keeps records of seeds and peers of torrent files. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what BitTorrent, tracker and server can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2021268. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2009.
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This entry incorporates text from “BitTorrent tracker” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.