ABB recommended trackers -- July 2024This list of ten public trackers is recommended for uploaders.
Periodically updated as they become unresponsive.
I delete dead ones and replace with currently reliable trackers (from
https://newtrackon.com/ which tests trackers) to make a new list of 10. Includes some http trackers for those with problems using udp.
udp://bt1.archive.org:6969/announce
http://tracker.bt4g.com:2095/announce
http://tracker.files.fm:6969/announce
http://tracker2.dler.org:80/announce
udp://exodus.desync.com:6969/announce
udp://open.stealth.si:80/announce
udp://tracker.dler.org:6969/announce
udp://tracker.opentrackr.org:1337/announce
udp://tracker.tiny-vps.com:6969/announce
udp://tracker.torrent.eu.org:451/announce
When using uTorrent to create a new torrent it will use the same trackers you last used by default, I assume other clients are similar.
Best to delete all the old ones and paste in the new list. (You may need to add a blank line between them in your client.)
Trackers are dying off more often, and many are flaky, not online 100%.
So we do have to renew the recommended trackers list periodically.
A couple of things to note: trackers really aren't vital, since all torrents must have DHT. Now you cannot upload a torrent set "private" (no DHT).
There is no requirement to have trackers at all; we just provided the list as many asked for guidance.
Also, when you download a .torrent file, the site will inject the current trackers into it. (This can be done since the tracker list does not affect the infohash.) That doesn't really help old torrents, as any old seeders will not have got those trackers. So when you see an old, private torrent from years ago here and think that at least it has some good trackers so it might work; it almost certainly will not, because only those who recently got the torrent file will be using the new trackers.
You are free to add any trackers of your own if for some reason you really want to. But
Please do not have more than 20 trackers total.We have a few torrents with hundreds of trackers (always more than half dead), because some uploaders believe that if they add every tracker they ever come across that it will help downloaders -- it won't. Just clutters up the web page listing and wastes some time as your client tests them every few minutes.
But do not add any private trackers -- these only work for members of the associated website.
The hope was that DHT would make trackers redundant; but a few trackers don't do any harm and when they work are faster than DHT to get it started, (though make no difference to download speed once you have found some seeds).
A few people are using ISPs that block UDP, and DHT depends on that, so they can only use trackers. But most trackers now use UDP so I try to find some that use http.
The tracker testing site:
https://newtrackon.com/ periodically tests trackers and reports their uptime.
All the list above are rated above 95% online as of writing.
If you have an old torrent or one copied from elsewhere, you can update the trackers: see
How to change the trackers in an existing torrent file.