BitComet proxy settings: Socks5, and the option that bypasses the proxy

BitComet proxy settings sit in the Proxy section of its Options dialog. The type starts at "No Proxy"; change it to Socks5 and enter your proxy's address. Then look at the option that says "Don't use proxy for tracker/peer-to-peer connections": it works the opposite way to most clients' checkboxes, and if it bypasses the proxy for peers, every peer sees your own address.

BitComet's official help confirms those two settings and the proxy types, and not much more, so below we separate what it says from what we could not confirm.

Should BitComet go through a proxy at all?

For most downloads, no. BitComet handles HTTP and FTP downloads as well as torrents, and a file from a project's own HTTP mirror needs no proxy and costs nothing on a metered one. Torrents of distribution images, open-source releases and research data are just as lawful to fetch from your own connection.

A proxy is for when you want BitComet's traffic to leave from a separate address while the rest of your computer does not. It does not make unauthorised sharing acceptable: that is not allowed on ProxyPanda, and our acceptable use policy makes staying within the law your responsibility. Lawful peer-to-peer traffic is fine on our residential proxies and on dedicated ISP or datacenter IPs with no traffic cap. If copyright enforcement is your worry, a proxy is the wrong tool; the clients that discuss it recommend a VPN, and proxy vs VPN explains the difference.

What BitComet's own help confirms

The official "BitComet Options" page on BitComet's wiki says three things about proxies:

• The default is "Proxy Type: No Proxy".
• "Supported Proxy types: Socks4, Socks4a, Socks5, HTTP1.1".
• "Don't use proxy for tracker/peer-to-peer connections: specifies if you want to bypass the proxy server for connections to the tracker or for connections to peers. (introduced in v.1.20)"

The current release is 2.22, dated 4 September 2026, so this has been part of BitComet for a long time.

The bypass option reads backwards

Most clients ask "use the proxy for peers?" BitComet asks the reverse: whether to bypass it. Set it to bypass the proxy for tracker connections and only peers use it; set it to bypass for peers and only the tracker does. The second is the trap. Proxying only the tracker hides your address from the tracker operator and from nobody else, since every peer still connects to your own IP. It also costs almost no proxy traffic, which is why a quiet meter can look like a working setup.

For a separate address in the swarm, leave both kinds of connection on the proxy.

Limits to know before you set it up

• Socks5 is the type to use. It carries peer connections over TCP. An HTTP1.1 proxy needs to tunnel to whatever ports your peers use, which we have not confirmed for every port on our HTTP proxies.
• UDP will not come through us. We have not verified a UDP relay on our gateways, so treat our SOCKS5 as TCP only. DHT, UDP trackers and uTP use UDP. HTTP vs SOCKS5 says the same for every tool.
• No incoming connections. Peers usually cannot reach a client behind a proxy, so you connect out to fewer of them.
• No encryption from the proxy. It relays connections; it does not encrypt them.
• Traffic both ways. Downloads and uploads both cross the proxy. How each direction counts on your plan is under metering.

What we could not confirm

BitComet is closed source, and its help page stops short of several things you would want to know:

• Which menu opens the Options dialog. BitComet's own pages describe the dialog, not the route to it, so we are not naming a menu path.
• Whether it takes a SOCKS5 username and password. Not documented on the page above. If your version shows no login fields, add your address to the IP allowlist so the proxy does not ask for one.
• What happens to DHT, UDP trackers and uTP. Whether BitComet relays them over SOCKS5, drops them, or sends them from your own address when a proxy is set is not stated anywhere we could find.

The last one matters most. Since our proxy will not carry UDP anyway, the safe course is to turn DHT off while the proxy is in use if your goal is a separate address, and to let the meter check below tell you whether anything is still going direct.

Setting it up

1. Open BitComet's Options and find the Proxy section.
2. Change Proxy Type from "No Proxy" to Socks5.
3. Enter the host and port from your service page. On ISP and datacenter proxies, switch the proxy to SOCKS5 in the dashboard first and copy the port it then shows.
4. Enter a username and password if there are fields for them; otherwise rely on the allowlist.
5. Make sure the proxy is not bypassed for peer-to-peer connections.
6. Apply, and restart the torrent you are testing.

Long-term seeding on a metered proxy

BitComet promotes "Long-Term Seeding Technology", which it says "can find more seeds". Seeding is how BitTorrent stays healthy, and seeding open-source releases is generous. On a metered proxy it is also paid traffic, every hour it runs. Before you leave anything seeding through the proxy, set an upload limit or a ratio at which it stops, and switch the proxy off for torrents that do not need a separate address. A static ISP or datacenter IP suits a client that stays connected for days, and a dedicated one with no traffic cap suits long-term seeding best, because it is billed per IP for its term rather than by the gigabyte. Rates are on the pricing page.

Check the meter

1. Confirm the proxy answers from the same computer: curl -s -x socks5h://USERNAME:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT https://api.ipify.org should print an address that is not yours.
2. Note your service's traffic figure in the dashboard. How to see how much traffic is left shows where.
3. Download a small, lawful torrent and note what BitComet reports as downloaded and uploaded.
4. Wait a few minutes, since dashboard figures update regularly rather than live, then compare.

If the two roughly match, peers went through the proxy. If the dashboard barely moved, peers went direct: check the bypass option first. A small excess on the dashboard is protocol overhead and discarded data. How to check your proxy provider's meter covers the method in more depth.

Quick answers

Does BitComet support SOCKS5? Yes. Its help lists Socks4, Socks4a, Socks5 and HTTP1.1.

What does "Don't use proxy for tracker/peer-to-peer connections" do? It bypasses the proxy for the connection type you choose. Bypassing it for peers leaves your address visible to every peer.

Does BitComet proxy DHT? We could not confirm it. Through our proxy, assume DHT will not work, and turn it off if you need a separate address.

Does a proxy make BitComet faster? No. Behind a proxy you lose incoming connections, which usually means fewer peers.

Next step

If your BitComet shows proxy options we have not described, send us a screenshot in Discord with the address details blurred, and we will add what it shows. Which torrent clients work with SOCKS5 compares BitComet with clients that document more.