Troubleshooting Information
Torrent clients allow you to download and upload files using the BitTorrent protocol. This guide explains what torrent clients are, how to check swarm health using seed/peer ratio, how to confirm client limits, and how to resolve common issues that may cause poor performance.
Prerequisites
- An Ultra.cc slot with one or more torrent clients enabled (Deluge, ruTorrent, Transmission, qBittorrent).
- Access to the web interface of your chosen torrent client.
- Basic familiarity with file downloads and browser-based applications.
How do Torrents Work
Torrent clients on Ultra.cc are accessible via a web browser. When you launch your client, you will see a list of torrents and key columns such as Seeds and Peers.
- Seed: A peer with 100% of the file.
- Peer (Leecher): A peer still downloading.
- Seed/Peer Ratio: Balance of seeds versus peers. A low ratio usually results in slow speeds.
- Tracker: A server that coordinates peer discovery.
A torrent with more seeds than peers is considered healthy. If a torrent has very few seeds, slow speeds are expected even if your client and service are configured correctly.
Configuration Checks
Each client allows you to check swarm health (seed/peer ratio) and confirm whether speed or connection limits are active. Both are necessary to understand whether an issue is related to the torrent swarm itself or to your configuration.
Deluge
- Check Seed/Peer Ratio:
- Open the Deluge Web UI.
- Go to the Torrents tab.
- Review the Seeds and Peers columns. Example:
Seeds: 2 (5)means you are connected to 2 out of 5 available. - Check Limits:
- Go to Preferences → Bandwidth.
- Confirm global and per-torrent Maximum Connections and Slots.
- Verify that Download Speed and Upload Speed are not set too low.
ruTorrent (rTorrent)
- Check Seed/Peer Ratio:
- Open the ruTorrent Web UI.
- Review the S/L (Seeds/Leechers) column. Example:
3/20means 3 seeders and 20 leechers. - Right-click a torrent → Trackers to see tracker-level swarm information.
- Check Limits:
- Click Settings (wrench icon) → Connection tab.
- Review Global Upload/Download Rate and Per-Torrent Limits.
- Check if plugins such as Scheduler or Throttle are applying restrictions.
Transmission
- Check Seed/Peer Ratio:
- Open the Transmission Web UI.
- Select a torrent and review the Peers tab in the bottom panel.
- Confirm number of connected peers and total available seeds.
- Check Limits:
- Go to Preferences → Speed.
- Verify Global Upload/Download Limits and Per-Torrent Limits.
- Look for Turtle Mode (turtle icon in the interface). If active, alternate lower limits are enforced.
qBittorrent
- Check Seed/Peer Ratio:
- Open the qBittorrent Web UI.
- Review the Seeds/Peers columns. Example:
10 (50)= 10 connected out of 50 total. - Double-click a torrent → Peers tab for detailed peer information.
- Check Limits:
- Go to Tools → Options → Speed.
- Review Global Upload/Download Speed Limits and Connections.
- Confirm if Alternative Rate Limits (Turtle Mode) are enabled. This can be toggled in the status bar. Hovering shows the active limits.
Secondary Troubleshooting Steps
Common performance issues often relate to either swarm health or configuration. Use the following checks:
- Confirm that global or per-torrent speed limits are not set too low.
- Check whether Turtle Mode or similar alternate limits are active.
- Limit the number of active torrents to reduce disk and bandwidth strain.
- Confirm available disk space. Full storage prevents downloads. You can check that in your UCP’s Overview tab.
- Review client logs for error messages.
Check Disk I/O Usage
High disk input/output (I/O) can slow down torrent performance if too many simultaneous reads and writes are queued. This often happens when seeding many torrents at once. More info can be found in our SSH Troubleshooting Information guide.
Run the following command to monitor real-time disk I/O on your Ultra.cc slot:
iostat -xk 2 $(findmnt -T ~ | awk 'END {print $2}')This shows:
- %util — percentage of time the disk is busy. If near 100%, the disk is saturated.
- r/s and w/s — read and write requests per second.
- await — average time (ms) for I/O requests to complete.
If %util is consistently high, reduce the number of active torrents or lower simultaneous connections in your client, or if you feel like you are not the cause, please open a ticket with us.
Restart Client
Sometimes you will find the need to restart and/or repair your client. Steps are as follows:
- Log in via your UCP, click your service:
- Go the Apps tab.
- Find your Torrent Client, we will be referencing qBittorrent and click 1 Actions.
- Click 2 Repair or 3 Restart which ever action is needed, and wait 60 seconds and try to load the app.
- If using both doesn’t repair the issue and you’re still seeing problems, please submit a support ticket.
If you require further assistance, you can open a support ticket here!
Feedback and suggestions regarding this article are welcome on our Discord server