BiglyBT proxy settings: the best-documented proxy page in torrenting

BiglyBT proxy settings have the best documentation of any torrent client we looked at. A wiki page called “Proxies and VPNs” says, in plain words, what each proxy type covers and where your IP can still slip out, and the options page even has a Test SOCKS button. This guide follows that page label by label, adds what it means on a metered proxy, and ends with when to leave the proxy off entirely.

Checked against BiglyBT’s Proxies and VPNs wiki page and the 4.1.0.0 interface labels in October 2026. Labels are quoted from the source; we did not run the client.

Our side of the fine print

• No UDP association through us. BiglyBT can announce to UDP trackers over SOCKS 5, but only if the proxy relays UDP, and we have not verified that on our gateways. Treat our SOCKS5 as TCP only: UDP trackers, DHT and uTP will not work through us. Use torrents with http:// or https:// trackers.
• Seeding is billed traffic on per-GB lines. Residential, and anything past a shared IP’s allowance: a torrent you seed pays both ways. The metering explainer has the rule.
• A proxy does not encrypt. It is a relay. SOCKS5 passwords travel in cleartext.
• Off the proxy is your IP. That is what the leak section further down is about.
• For copyright-type risk, use a VPN. BiglyBT documents that route too: set Bind to local IP address or interface to the VPN and tick Enforce IP bindings even when interfaces are not available. The proxy vs VPN guide explains why a VPN fits that threat and a proxy does not.
• Lawful content only. Sharing files you have no right to share through our proxies is not allowed; see the acceptable use policy.

Switch to advanced mode first

The proxy page is Tools > Options > Connection > Proxy Options, and it only appears in advanced mode. If you cannot see it, that is why. BiglyBT runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and it is the maintained fork of the old Azureus and Vuze code, kept up by two of the original developers.

Set up SOCKS5, label by label

1. Tick Enable proxying of tracker communications [restart required].
2. Tick I have a SOCKS proxy, and enter the proxy IP and port from your dashboard.
3. Set SOCKS version to 5, and fill in Username and Password.
4. Tick Enable proxying of peer communications (outgoing connections only) [restart required]. Tracker and data proxying are separate settings in BiglyBT; this is the data one.
5. Tick Prevent local DNS lookups, so hostnames are not resolved by your own resolver.
6. If you use the Tor or I2P helper plugins, decide about Disable plugin proxies (e.g. Tor/I2P Helper plugins) when a SOCKS server is configured. Tick it to keep everything on one path.
7. Press Test SOCKS, then restart BiglyBT. Both proxying options say restart required, and they mean it.

Want an HTTP proxy instead? Untick I have a SOCKS proxy and the same page configures HTTP. Know what you are buying, though. The wiki says an HTTP proxy “affects tracker communications, HTTP seed connections” and that “HTTP proxying does NOT affect normal peer-to-peer connections”. Peers see you.

Close the leaks BiglyBT tells you about

This is where BiglyBT is unusually honest. Its wiki says to “disable features that will otherwise allow your public IP address to leak”, and names them:

• Peer sources. “Look for the ‘Peer Sources’ section and deselect everything apart from the first one, ‘from a tracker’.”
• DHT. “Also ensure that you haven’t got the ‘Mainline DHT Plugin’ installed”.

Read the meter: long-term seeding, priced

BiglyBT’s crowd likes to seed open-source distributions for the long haul. Respect. Now price it. A 4 GB ISO seeded to a ratio of 3.0 moves 4 GB in and 12 GB out: at least 16 GB through a proxy carrying peers. The smallest residential order that covers it is 16 GB for $63.20. A dedicated datacenter IP is $1.90 for 30 days with no traffic meter, and for a long seed that is the sane choice. Check the order’s thread count first; more are a paid add-on. P2P is fine on our residential IPs and on dedicated IPs with no traffic meter, as long as what you share is lawful.

To check the bill, put BiglyBT’s own transfer statistics for a test window next to the usage view and CSV export in your dashboard. A few percent apart is overhead. Much more is worth a message, and the honesty page says what we do about it. The bandwidth calculator shows where one flat-priced IP overtakes per-GB residential.

Seed generously, pay deliberately

Set an upload rate cap and a ratio at which proxied torrents stop. If you only proxied the download, the cheapest long-term seed is one on your own connection: untick peer proxying once it completes, restart, and turn your peer sources back on. The upload leaves our meter, and the swarm gets a well-connected seed instead of a NAT-problem one.

Verdict

If you want a client you can actually verify behind a proxy, BiglyBT is it: exact labels, a test button, and a wiki that names its own leaks. Use SOCKS5 with tracker and peer proxying, peer sources cut down to trackers, no Mainline DHT Plugin, and a dedicated datacenter IP rather than per-GB residential. For a single ISO you just want to own, skip all of it and download direct. Still on Vuze? The Vuze guide explains why BiglyBT is the place to move.

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