When it comes to private torrent trackers, most people use ‘pre times’ as a measure of the site’s quality. Did you know that there are several IRC channels that are dedicated to ‘measuring’ the pre times of various general/0day trackers? These are called ‘Tracer’ channels. Tracers record pre times of individual torrent releases (each release is a ‘race’) on various trackers and the site that has best pre time is considered to be the winner of a race. This article is about #Tracers channel on irc.p2p-net.eu, one of the most popular and easily accessible channels of this type that are currently around.
What’s ‘pre time’ ?
Before we move on, let’s first clarify what’s meant by the term ‘pre time’. ‘Pre time’ is basically the time it takes for a torrent tracker to upload a particular scene release once it’s been pre’d (released) on topsites. In general, trackers with shorter pre times are considered better since they allow faster access to scene releases.
What’s #Tracers and #tr.chat?
The IRC channel we are talking about is #Tracers on IRC server irc.p2p-net.eu. The main channel (#Tracers) monitors and notifies on race wins and new torrent releases. In addition, there is another channel #tr.chat which allows users to post queries and check statistics of listed private trackers. The following user commands are available in the #tr.chat channel (commands list can be accessed by typing the command !trhelp):
- !sitelist - Lists all sites with info added, regardless of whether or not they have any race wins.
- !sites [-spam] - Returns all sites tracked by P2P-NET Tracers and their all-time standings. If the "-spam" tag is added, it will also include spam wins.
- !db [-spam] - Returns various information about the Tracers database. If the "-spam" tag is added, it will also include spam races.
- !siteinfo
- Returns various information about the specified site. - !search
- Returns who won the race to upload the specified release, and all other sites with it currently uploaded as well. - !daystats [-spam] - Returns all race statistics for the last 24 hours. If the "-spam" tag is added, statistics will also include wins from spam categories.
- !weekstats [-spam] - Returns all race statistics for the last 7 days. If the "-spam" tag is added, statistics will also include wins from spam categories.
- !monthstats [-spam] - Returns all race statistics for the last 30 days. If the "-spam" tag is added, statistics will also include wins from spam categories.
- !yearstats [-spam] - Returns all race statistics for the last year. If the "-spam" tag is added, statistics will also include wins from spam categories.
- !last10 [
] [-spam]- Returns the last 10 wins recorded. If you add the , then it will return the last 10 uploads from the specified site. If the "-spam" tag is added, it will also return spam uploads.
For example if you type !siteinfo SCC into mIRC (or any other IRC client) while being logged into #tr.chat, you’ll get details about SceneAccess.
A great thing about #Tracers is that it does not ‘forget’ any race wins. All wins by a tracker are recorded and become visible to users. Typing the command !sites on #tr.chat will give you a list of traced sites sorted by the number of their overall race wins.
What private trackers are monitored (or traced)?
#Tracers channel currently monitors over 30 private torrent trackers. Here is a table featuring the list of private trackers traced, number of overall race wins and the open signup status of each site.
| #Tracers Name | Tracker Name | Overall Wins | Signup Status |
| SCC | SceneAccess | 4845 | |
| ScT | SceneTorrents | 2217 | |
| GFT | GForces Tracker | 1416 | |
| HT | HeavenTracker | 856 | |
| TL | TorrentLeech | 648 | |
| SiT | SeediT | 553 | Open |
| RBy | RandomBytes | 482 | Open |
| THS | TopHos | 423 | |
| ThB | ThorBits | 331 | Open |
| TCS | The Candy Store | 170 | Open |
| TGB | TGBTD | 159 | Open |
| NT | Nordic-T | 123 | Open |
| TPB | The Pirate Bay | 123 | Open/Public |
| ScL | Withheld | 91 | |
| ACE | Ace Torrents | 76 | Open |
| CT | ChronicTracker | 67 | |
| TD | Torrent-Damage | 66 | |
| PTM | PreToME | 65 | Free reg. key |
| BTv | Bitt.tv | 58 | |
| AL | Acid | 39 | |
| TC | Tehconnection | 36 | Open |
| TV | Torrent Vault | 23 | |
| A4N | All4Nothin | 22 | Open |
| DH | DigitalHive | 13 | |
| TBy | TorrentBytes | 12 | Open |
| RTT | RevolutionTT | 9 | |
| ST | SuperTorrents | 7 | |
| FTS | FreeTheScene | 6 | Open |
| PT | PolishTracker | 5 | |
| ScR | SceneRace | 4 | |
| TiT | TorrenTiT | 4 | |
| EZTV | EZTV | 2 | Open/Public |
| BH | BladesHeaven | 1 | Open |
Notes:
- Some trackers are newly launched or newly added to the Tracers list. It may be unfair to compare overall statistics of new entrants with of those added earlier.
- Not all general/0Day trackers taht are currently online are monitored by #Tracers
- Even if a site beats another by a short margin such as 1 second, it’s still counted as a race win. You’ll find that the pre time difference between most trackers is actually a few minutes (or in some cases few seconds).
- All statistics above are as of 27/2/2009
How do i access the channels?
All of these are public channels. No invitation/registration is required.
#Tracers channel: irc://irc.p2p-net.eu/tracers or #Tracers on server irc.p2p-net.eu
#TR.Chat channel: irc://irc.p2p-net.eu/tr.chat or #tr.chat on server irc.p2p-net.eu
Tutorial: Click here for a tutorial on how to join IRC channels using mIRC. Includes download links for required software.
