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 <site.initials> - Returns various information about the specified site.
- !search <release.name> - 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 [<site.initials>] [-spam]- Returns the last 10 wins recorded. If you add the <site.initials>, 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.
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Thanks for the article :) I found out about these IRC communities about 7 months ago. These channles aren't only for torrent racers and pre times but also there are great people over there who actually know what they are talking about and they can provide help for everything that anyone could ask about. Also it's great being around the staff of sites like SCC, ScT and GFT and the authors of the well-known release blogs :)
Also, almost every big private tracker site has its own pre and tracer channels, they are private ofcourse. There are differences between a channel and another. Some channels have bigger database than others. some channels list scene releases only and other channles list both scene and p2p releases. Some channels hava more search options/commands than others. Some have colors and so on.
Very informative article, thx!
Is anybody else having problems connecting? I'm getting an message telling me 'Italy range banned' but I dont even live in Italy :/
Thanks for any replies
Yeah #Tracers WOULD be kinda cool, if it wasn't for the fact that the main staff/mods there are also top staff on SCC and what was ScT.
It's widely known that said sites systematically DoS attack any site that got close to making them look bad on there.
It's no wonder that many sites end up wanting off #Tracers after experiencing the BS and the general FU attitude in their channels.
Then when they do want off, (and they do in the end), Tracers just get someone else to relay IRC announcements to keep those sites on there against there will, which is retarded.
#Tracers is not a measure of a good site anymore, nor is it fun to be on. It's SCC's playground, but in the end they look bad for it and everyone knows it. Maybe they will too one day :|
Pre time is very effective, however if you do not know how to use it, you might get stressed. Fortunately, I generally take viagra online which keeps me relaxed