UDP tracker

The UDP tracker protocol is a high-performance low-overhead BitTorrent tracker protocol. URLs for this protocol have the following format: udp://tracker:port. This protocol is supported by only some BitTorrent clients.

UDP vs. HTTP

The UDP tracker is better optimized and puts less strain on the tracking server, however it is not supported by all BitTorrent clients. On the other hand the HTTP tracker is supported by all BitTorrent clients, is more reliable for ratio updates, but more of a strain on the server. Neither tracker has any effect on transfer speeds, except that if a user wanted to use a web browser (transfers via HTTP) then the UDP downloads would not be as affected by the increase in local traffic.

upported clients

*Vuze
*XBT Client
*KTorrent
*XBBT
*BitComet
*Turbo Torrent
*BitRocket
*BitLord
*BitSpirit
*Libtorrent
*FlashGet

List is subject to changes. Other clients may add support or the existing ones may drop it. Please refer individual client's manual/help/support for more information.

Criticism

* No IPv6 support
* No mechanism for index sites to scrape an entire tracker
* No mechanism for trackers to enforce client restrictions
* No mechanism for trackers to send warning messagesFact|date=February 2007

External links

* [http://xbtt.sourceforge.net/udp_tracker_protocol.html UDP tracker protocol specification]
* [http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?pid=20139#p20139 Criticism of UDP tracker]