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Port 6881 BitTorrent

BitTorrent peers (6881–6889).

Protocol
TCP/UDP
Service
BitTorrent
Category
Other
Exposing to the internet
Normal to expose

Check if port 6881 is open

Is it safe to open

Open only what you need, to the addresses that need it.

How to open port 6881

Open to everyone

# Linux iptables
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 6881 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 6881 -j ACCEPT
# Ubuntu ufw
ufw allow 6881/tcp
ufw allow 6881/udp
# firewalld
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=6881/tcp && firewall-cmd --reload
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=6881/udp && firewall-cmd --reload
# MikroTik
/ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=tcp dst-port=6881 action=accept place-before=0 comment="port 6881"
/ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=udp dst-port=6881 action=accept place-before=0 comment="port 6881"
# Windows (PowerShell)
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Port 6881 TCP" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 6881 -Action Allow
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Port 6881 UDP" -Direction Inbound -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 6881 -Action Allow

Only for your addresses

# allow only one address or network (replace 203.0.113.0/24)
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 6881 -s 203.0.113.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 6881 -s 203.0.113.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 6881 -j DROP
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 6881 -j DROP
ufw allow from 203.0.113.0/24 to any port 6881 proto tcp
ufw allow from 203.0.113.0/24 to any port 6881 proto udp
/ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=tcp dst-port=6881 src-address=203.0.113.0/24 action=accept
/ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=udp dst-port=6881 src-address=203.0.113.0/24 action=accept
/ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=tcp dst-port=6881 action=drop
/ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=udp dst-port=6881 action=drop

If the server is behind a router, you also need a port forward (dst-nat). Behind ISP CGNAT (100.64.0.0/10 on the WAN) forwarding will not help: you need a public IP or a VPN.

What is listening

Check on the server

# what listens on the port
ss -lntup | grep ':6881 '
netstat -ano | findstr :6881   # Windows
lsof -i :6881   # macOS
# test from another machine
nc -vz example.com 6881

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