How to Avoid Being Banned on Soulseek: Tips & Fixes

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Everything you need to know about Soulseek's p2p sharing culture
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Soulseek, sometimes shortened to slsk is, at least compared to other peer-to-peer networks, a tightly knit community of music enthusiasts and their treasured collections. It's a great place for downloading music, and you may even make a friend or two. However, most Soulseek users won't tolerate you for long unless you share. If you keep getting banned on Soulseek and are unsure why, you're probably not sharing files. You may think you're sharing files, but chances are you're not and don't even realize it. This wikiHow guide will teach you how to share on Soulseek so you don't get banned. We'll also help you troubleshoot file sharing in Soulseek.

Avoid Getting Banned on Soulseek

Make sure you are sharing files and that they are visible to others. Go to Options > File Sharing , and share a folder if you haven't already. Go to Options > Login and click Check Ports to make sure your files are accessible to other users. If not, you will need to open the port next to "Listening port."

Section 1 of 4:

How to Avoid Being Banned on Soulseek

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  1. 1
    Share files. This is the most important thing–people on Soulseek do not take kindly to leeching. [1] Even if you don't have a lot of files to share, make sure you're sharing some files to avoid being banned by users you might want to download from.
  2. 2
    Check the user's info before downloading. Soulseek users often have their own idiosyncratic rules for downloading from them. Before downloading, right-click or control-click the user's name (from a search) and select Get User Info .
    • If the user doesn't provide info, a reasonably safe way to avoid being banned is to not download more than one album per day from a particular user. If that user has a lot of material that you'd like to download, add them to your user list so you can easily find them in the future.
    • To add someone to your user list, right-click or control-click their name and select Add user to list .
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  3. 3
    Don't queue up tons of files from the same user. Some Soulseek users may not mind if you download a few albums or movies from them at once, but many prefer you stick to one or two albums or videos at a time.
  4. 4
    Keep your files organized. While less common, some more particular users might ban you if they browse your files and find a bunch of unorganized, untagged music in a single folder. Even if you don't like to download entire albums, create folders for artist names, genres, BPM , or any other organizational method that shows you want to make it easy for people to download from you.
  5. 5
    Check your internet connection. If your connection is so slow that it takes hours to download files that others could download in minutes, they might ban you so you don't hog their upload slots. Check your internet speed and make sure you have high enough bandwidth to download files.
    • If your internet is slow because too many people are downloading from you at once, there are ways to optimize Soulseek for better performance.
  6. 6
    Keep sharing more files. If you're newer to file sharing on Soulseek, you may find that you're being banned because you're not sharing enough files ("You have been banned for sharing less than 5000 files"). As you download, be sure to move your downloads into your sharing folder and then click Rescan Shares to make them available to others.
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Section 2 of 4:

How to Share on Soulseek

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  1. 1
    Put all your music files into a folder. Before you share music on Soulseek, make sure your music files are all in the same location and that no other types of files are in the folder. People often accidentally share their Documents or Downloads directories, both of which often contain personal or sensitive data.
    • For example, you can create a folder called Music Files that contains sub-folders organized by artist and album.
    • People on Soulseek really appreciate a well-organized music file structure!
  2. 2
    Click the Options tab in the Soulseek client. You'll see it near the top of the window.
  3. This is on the tab below the one where you found "Options."
  4. 4
    Click the Share Folder button. This button is in the top toolbar.
  5. 5
    Select the folder you want to share. Click the Select Folder button, then browse to and select the folder where you store your music. Be careful when selecting a folder–don't accidentally select a folder that contains other files!
  6. 6
    Make the folder accessible to everyone. To make sure you're not instantly banned when you try to download music from someone you haven't added to your userlist, check the box next to "Folder accessible to everyone."
  7. 7
    Click OK . This closes the window and adds the folder to your Shared Folders list.
    • You can manage your shared folders on the File Sharing tab.
    • If you move your files around, click the Rescan Shares button at the top (only visible when you're on the File Sharing tab) so the new file locations are properly indexed on Soulseek search.
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Section 3 of 4:

Why am I still getting banned?

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  1. You may have gone through the process of sharing files, but your files may not actually be shared. To check, add yourself to your user list, then browse your own files. Here's how:
    • Click the Users tab.
    • Click the User List tab.
    • Click the Add User button at the top.
    • Type your own Soulseek username and click Add User .
    • Now, on the User List, right-click or control-click your username and select Browse user's files. If you're not seeing your files, others can't see them either.
  2. 2
    Make sure your listening port is open. If people are having trouble downloading files from you (or they keep banning you for not sharing, even though you shared your music folder), there's likely a configuration problem.
    • First, click the Options tab and then the Login tab.
    • You will see the listening port near the top, just under your username. Click Check Ports to see if it's open, and a Soulseek page will open in your default browser.
    • If you see "Your router and Soulseek client is configured correctly," others should be able to download from you.
    • If not, you will need to select a port you know is open , or open that port in your router settings.
  3. 3
    Turn off your VPN. If your listening port isn't open, your VPN could be the problem. While using a VPN for file-sharing is wise, not all VPNs work with Soulseek. You may also need to tweak your settings a little to make it work with Soulseek. Temporarily turn off your VPN, close and restart Soulseek (be careful not to just minimize it– actually close the program and reopen it), go to Options > Login , and click Check Ports to try again.
    • If the port is now open, your VPN is blocking it. Your VPN must support port forwarding to use it with Soulseek, and not all do.
  4. 4
    Rescan your library. If you've moved things around, you might just need to rescan your files so they'll show up for other Soulseek users:
    • Click the Options menu.
    • Click File Sharing .
    • Click Rescan Shares (it's at the top of the application when you're on the File Sharing tab).
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Section 4 of 4:

FAQ

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  1. 1
    Why do my Soulseek downloads keep aborting? If you can't download any files at all because they're instantly aborted, it's possible your download folder has incorrect permissions or is not accessible. Go to Options > File Sharing to check the download folder location and correct it if needed.
  2. 2
    How can I tell if I've been banned on Soulseek? If, when downloading, the file name turns red and says "file not shared," and you can no longer browse the person's files, you are banned.
  3. 3
    Can people see your IP on Soulseek? Technically, yes. Any time you connect to someone's computer to download something, your IP address is logged by their router. There is no place in the Soulseek program to view someone's IP address, but your IP will be instantly visible in some Soulseek alternative clients like Nicotine+.
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    Can I report someone for cursing at me on Soulseek?
    Community Answer
    No, there's no option to report. You are able to right-click and ignore a user who's bothering you.
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  • Question
    How do I avoid being banned on Soulseek if the article methods aren't working?
    Community Answer
    Don't download a large amount of files from a single person. If you are trying to get a band's entire discography, download different albums from different people. Even then, it's completely up to individual users who they want to block. you can get blocked for no reason at all and there isn't much you can do about it.
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  • Question
    What do I do if my downloads are getting aborted on Soulseek?
    Community Answer
    Check the user's profile. There is often an explanation why the download gets aborted.
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      Tips

      • If you find someone with music you want, or who has a good connection to you (in the D/L speed or K/sec columns), add them to your list for future reference.
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      • If you decide to ban another Soulseek user, send them a message first. Many Soulseek users are new to the program and not well-versed in the culture. Some are not very computer literate and could use a little assistance. Help them out by asking if they know they aren't sharing. If you don't want to walk them through it, direct them to this page. Most people have no idea that they aren't sharing.
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      • Never queue up more than an album or two from a single user at once. Doing so is considered discourteous and selfish. Since Soulseek is first-come, first-served, queuing up too much may prevent others from downloading from that user.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://www.slsknet.org/news/faq-page#t12n756

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