The Official Private Tracker Dictionary

This is a non-exhaustive list of terminology commonly used throughout the private BitTorrent community. Many obvious ones (such as "torrent") have been purposely omitted. I threw this together rather quickly; if you know of any others, please drop us a comment, and I’ll add ‘em to the list.


Adopt (a torrent):

Some sites have an ‘adoption system’ for torrents. This ensures that a torrent will always have at least one seed, and adopters are often rewarded with credit.

Axx:

Short for ‘account’ or ‘accounts’ - as in private accounts. Eg.: If you have an account at TorrentLeech and BitMeTV; then these are your axx.

Bad Invite:

You’ve given an ‘invite’ to someone who has done harm to the site, usually H&R related. In extreme cases, your account may also be deleted as some sites have zero-tolerance on this. Other sites have no policy on this whatsoever, and others may have a limitation on how many bad invites you are allowed to give (as is the case with FinBytes - which will allow 2 bad invites before disabling your account as well).

Bonus System:

See ‘Point System’.

Buffer:

The measure (in GBs) of how much more data you’ve uploaded, in comparison to downloaded. Eg.: An axx with 400 GB downloaded and 500 GB uploaded means there’s a 100 GB buffer on the account. The higher the better. Buffered accounts always have a ratio higher than 1.0.

Buffered Account:

This can refer to any account that has a buffer on it. In trades & giveaways, a ‘buffered account’ is typically one that a member has spent a great deal of time and effort to ensure there’s a good buffer on it.

Class / Class System:

See ‘User Class’.

Credit System:

See ‘Point System’.

Dead (Torrent):

A torrent that no longer has any seeders. The possibility of completely downloading the files in a dead torrent is highly unlikely, especially on private trackers.

DL:

Short for ‘download’.

Featured Torrents:

Some trackers offer a ‘Featured Torrents’ section that contain torrents with special (and favourable) UL/DL rates. For example, Underground-Gamer offers their ‘featured’ with 125% up / 75% down. This is helpful in building a good sharing ratio.

Freeleech:

Freeleech is a promo offered by a private site - usually specific to individual torrents. It means that you can download that torrent without any ratio changes to your account. Torrents that are tagged ‘freeleech’ will not count against your ‘download’ ratio, but will count positively towards your upload ratio. A freeleech promo may also consist of everything on the tracker (i.e. A "Freeleech Weekend") whereby everything is available as freeleech (not just specific torrents). Freeleech does NOT mean you do not have to follow the H&R rules. It simply a way to help you maintain a better ratio. You can & will be warned if you H&R a freeleech torrent - this includes freeleech slots also.

Freeleech Slot:

Some sites offer its members a ‘freeleech slot’ that can be used on any torrent that is not already listed as freeleech. In short, it grants freeleech to a non-freeleech torrent. This promo is most beneficial when used on large torrents (i.e. ‘packs’).

Grabbed / Snagged / Snatched:

The number of times a torrent has been downloaded - useful for judging the popularity of a release or torrent.

HnR / H&R (or Hit’n'Run):

When someone deletes the torrent as soon as it completes, without seeding it (regardless of the ratio). HnR’s are highly frowned-upon, as they’re counter-productive to sharing and the health of the torrent. A great way to get banned from a private tracker. Different sites have different rules about H&R - this means that just because you seeded a torrent to 2:1 in a half an hour and then killed it, it may still be a H&R because you deleted the seeding torrent too quickly.

Invite(s):

An invitation to a private tracker. Invites are often given to existing private site members who show outstanding qualities, such as a good ratio. These invites are then free to give out to whomever you wish via email notification.

Invite System:

Refers to a tracker that actively hands out invites to its members. Some do not have an ‘invite system’ (such as **** and FTN) and thus remain a ‘closed community’. Others will periodically disable the invite system until membership is brought down to an acceptible level by tracker standards.

IRC Idle (points):

Many trackers give out free upload credit to members who are sitting in their IRC channel. Usually this is awarded as an hourly figure - eg. 1 MB per 1/2 hour IRC idle.

IRC (Pre) Channel:

This is the place where they ‘announce’ new additions to the site. Great place to hang out if you’re looking for the latest torrents. Some sites even offer an ‘IRC Autodownload’ script that connects to a BitTorrent client - latest releases are automatically added as they’re announced. You can use it either by using an IRC-client (mIRC, xChat) or by the tracker’s Java-based Live Chat (in the browser).

Karma:

Or ‘Karma Points’ - this is a unique modification to a points/credit system for members of a private site. See ‘Point System’.

Leech / Leecher:

A leecher is someone who hasn’t finished downloading the torrent, and still remains in the swarm. It can also be a negative connotation for someone who doesn’t share a torrent to a minimum 1:1 ratio.

Packs:

A ‘pack’ is a large release that is usually specific to just that site. It is generally known as a special collection of releases that is grouped together in the same torrent. Eg.: A "Stephen King" pack may consist of some (or all) of his movies. Some trackers are notoriously known for them, and may even offer them as freeleech.

Passkey:

In order to prevent private torrents from being uploaded to public sites (in effect turning it into a public tracker), there are a number of security measures in place. One of them being passkeys. A unique passkey is assigned to each member of a private site and is incorporated into each torrent. It identifies your account in relation to the torrent, and it’s also used in gathering your UL and DL traffic statistics. Some sites will allow you to change your own passkey manually; others require that you explain the reason for the requested change.

Pay To Leech:

This is associated with making a ‘donation’ to a site, in order to gain upload credit or other buffering. It’s sorta like cheating (by not having to actually upload to maintain a good ratio). The BitTorrent community has mixed emotions to this, although it is generally frowned upon when done in laziness. While donating itself is never a bad idea, the motives behind it are questionable when done only as a means to leech the torrents. By and large, pay-to-leech may be good for the tracker, but it does nothing for the community.

Love it or hate it, pay-to-leech ‘upload credit’ is very beneficial to new accounts. In the beginning, it is normally more difficult to upload, and this solves that problem - a small donation will often set the account in the right direction. If you’ve finally found yourself inside a really great private tracker that you’ve been dying to get into, but find it’s in jeopardy of being deleted because you can’t upload, then consider donating to save it. After that you can start to build up a good buffer.

PM:

Short for ‘Private Message’ - these can be found in your inbox. Most sites support a ‘PM’ system for its members. PM’ed - you were sent a PM. Eg.: If you jump in class, you’ll be PM’ed by a site admin to notify you of your elite status.

Point System:

Many private sites incorporate a ‘point system’ or ‘credit system’ for its members. Points can be earned by: being ‘repped’; being active on the site or for forum contributions; a good sharing ratio (usually higher than 1:1); filling a request or uploading a torrent; seeding; hanging out in IRC, etc. Points can be spent in the ’store’ (or similar) for improving your account by purchasing: VIP access; invites; upload credit; freeleech slots; even gambled with other users. A point system is almost always implemented uniquely to each individual site and specifically customized. Some will do this as "karma" or karma points. Members can also lose points for negative feedback.

Pre’s:

When a release group pre’s a release, it will be available for other people and the distribution will start. Simply put, when something is pre’d, that is when the life cycle for it begins.

Pre-time:

Often there’s a message that accompanies a new torrent and it looks similar to this - "Uploaded 4 mins, 54 secs after pre". Since proper ’scene releases’ are not directly pre’d on BitTorrent sites (normally it’s done on IRC), there’s always a waiting period before it arrives even on the most elite private trackers. This "pre-time" means it took almost 5 minutes for the tracker to offer the release as a torrent. The shorter the time, the better. And 5 minutes is a damn-good pre-time! It goes without saying that pre-times vary greatly between private trackers - some are closer to the pre’s ’source’ than others, and are thus notoriously known for great pre-times.

Promos:

In private tracker jargon, a ‘promo’ is a special offering within the site. Promos may consist of freeleech, 2X upload, or other perks - usually for a limited time. A promo is also known as a promotion in ‘user class’.

Promotion:

A jump up in ‘user class’, usually by way of a good sharing ratio and/or time on the site. A promotion in class may or may not include extra site features, such as the ability to view the Top Ten list or NFO files; automatic invites; or user points.

Proof:

Found on tracker invites & swapping forums, particularly during giveaways. Proofs usually consist of a speedtest and current ratio on a private tracker. Both of these will prove that you’ll be able to handle the account maturely and professionally.

Pruned / Pruning:

In private site jargon, a pruned account is one that has been deleted, usually due to inactivity on the tracker. Normally, accounts are regularly ‘pruned’ (usually somewhere between 4 - 8 weeks of inactivity) to make room for new memberships to people who will actually use the accounts.

PU:

Short for ‘Power User’. Typically it’s a ‘class’ that is one rung higher than the default ‘User Class’.

Ratio:

The most important statistic to any private account. It’s the measure of uploaded data vs. downloaded. Eg.: An account with 400 GB downloaded and 500 GB uploaded is a 1.25 ratio.

Rep:

Reps are known as ‘reputation points’ - a system for giving praise to other members, commonly found on forums. If someone has helped you out by answering your question adequately or by giving you an ‘invite’, be sure to rep him/her. Reps are common on tracker invite BBs & forums.

RSS Downloading:

Most sites support RSS feed downloading, and there’s usually a post about this in the tutorials/help forums.

Slot Restrictions:

Similar to ‘Wait Time’ restrictions - this is a limit imposed on new accounts (or delinquent ones) whereby the member is only allowed to have "X" number of active torrents simultaneously.

Scene Releases (only):

Or, Scene Material (only). These trackers only deal in proper ’scene releases’ - most are also considered 0Day trackers.

Seed:

Typically it’s the number of how many people have completed a torrent, and are now sharing it. There are two types of users in a torrent - seeds and leechers. Together, they make up the ‘peers’ in a torrent.

Seed/Leech Ratio:

The number of seeds to leechers, usually shown as a percentage in the statistics section for a tracker. If there’s 20 seeders to every 1 leecher, the ratio would be 2000%. In most cases, a higher percent makes for faster downloads, although it also makes it more difficult to upload.

Seedbox:

A seedbox is BitTorrent jargon for a dedicated high-speed server used explicitly for torrent transfers; more specifically - for uploading (seeding) at high rates.

Seeder Bonus:

Some trackers use a Seeder Bonus system to offer credits/points for members who simply have the torrent seeding in the BitTorrent client (regardless of if it’s uploading data or not). It’s a great way to increase upload ratio. Typically, seeder bonus awards are ‘0.5 credits per hour of seeding’ - although this varies from site to site.

Signup(s):

The process of registering with a private tracker. A tracker that is ‘open for signups’ is open to new members. When signups are closed, the tracker may only be accepting new membership through invite only, or not at all.

Superpacks:

A very large ‘pack’. These may include the entire collection of releases for a release group. Eg.: A ‘Diamond’ superpack may consist of everything that the Diamond RG has ever come out with - all in one torrent. See ‘packs’.

TorrentFlux:

A very popular and powerful BitTorrent client that runs on a web server - most common usage is through a seedbox. Many seedbox services include the TorrentFlux "GUI" with the account - torrents can easily be managed remotely through the web-based interface.

Tracker Level:

Private BitTorrent sites are categorized using a number of criteria. The higher the level, the more difficult it is to gain access to. Criteria may include: Number of invites given out; rarity; number of site members, etc. A "level 1 tracker" would be considered ‘low-level’ and easy to get into; a "level 10" near impossible.

UL:

Short for ‘upload’. As is ‘UL Credit’.

Upload Credit:

A site ‘promo’ whereby users can spend points/credits for certain perks - in this case ‘upload GBs’. Upload credit can often be purchased by way of donation, and is sometimes frowned upon (but never discouraged by a private site) and considered ‘pay to leech’.

User CP:

Or ‘User Control Panel’ - this is where the member’s options can be changed (user profile).

User Class:

A method of classification for private tracker members. Most sites employ a ‘class system’ to categorize the value of members to the site/tracker, based on contribution. Generally, users who have better sharing ratios are generally rewarded with a jump in class. Class systems are unique to each site, as are the governing rules for class promotions. Some are more lenient than others - some are more strict.

Wait Times :

Many trackers employ a ‘wait time’ restriction for new members - this ensures there are fewer H&R’s. TL is one example - new users will have to wait 48 hours before a torrent becomes active (and that’s after it has been added to the BT client, not 48 hours after joining the site).

0-Day / 0-Sec:

0-Day means someone has access to a release within a day after it was pre’d, but usually the time is much shorter than a day.

0-Day Tracker:

A private BitTorrent site (tracker) that offers mostly 0-day releases. Most private sites are technically considered 0-day trackers, since most are able to get proper scene releases within the same day. But when a tracker is referred to as an "0-Day Tracker", the general consensus is that they’ve got some close scene connections and actually offer the releases as it happens. ScT is a good example of this.

2X Upload (2Xup):

Or ‘Double Upload’ - this refers to when a site offers double the upload statistics for a particular torrent. These are useful when trying to increase a ratio. Some sites may even offer brief time periods where everything is 2X or double. A similar (but uncommon) example is 4X upload.