Question about Tor relay guard/middle probability fluctuations
Hi everyone, I have a question regarding my Tor relay’s lifecycle. Since the beginning, I have noticed that the guard and middle probabilities fluctuate significantly. I have not observed this behavior when comparing with other operators’ relays. After some time, the relay receives the Guard flag and the middle probability decreases, later it loses the Guard flag and the middle probability increases again. I waited for a long time to see whether this would stabilize, but the behavior has remained unchanged. I would like to ask what the possible reasons for this could be, and whether it might be related to my configuration. Relay fingerprint: 8E6E3B11C9AD2E9E3B3FC53A4E43D1AE3BEBE444 Tor metrics link: https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#details/8E6E3B11C9AD2E9E3B3FC53A4E43D... Thank you in advance. P.S. If you check the relay statistics, please ignore the low consensus weight and probabilities during the last month, that was caused by my own mistake.
Am 19.02.2026 um 08:56:39 Uhr schrieb Tor-relay via tor-relays:
Since the beginning, I have noticed that the guard and middle probabilities fluctuate significantly. I have not observed this behavior when comparing with other operators’ relays. After some time, the relay receives the Guard flag and the middle probability decreases, later it loses the Guard flag and the middle probability increases again. I waited for a long time to see whether this would stabilize, but the behavior has remained unchanged.
I would like to ask what the possible reasons for this could be, and whether it might be related to my configuration.
what about uptime and reachability? Was it online all the time and reachable? -- kind regards Marco Send unsolicited bulk mail to 1771487799muell@cartoonies.org
Hey, Looking at your relay, a possible explanation could be that you're are at the limit regarding some constraints for for the guard flag assignment, and authorities would give it to you, then remove it, then give it again, ect. The effect that would be seen from such event is a change in the selection probability for entry and middle position, as you describe. Two possibles directions: - You could raise your bandwidth a little bit. Hopefully this should let you escape from this instability zone. - Authorities could change flag assignment, raise the bar to get the flag, and lower the bar to loose it once it has been acquired. This could be helpful with some relays close to have/lose the needed attributes. Best, Florentin Le 19/02/26 à 08:56, Tor-relay via tor-relays a écrit :
Hi everyone,
I have a question regarding my Tor relay’s lifecycle.
Since the beginning, I have noticed that the guard and middle probabilities fluctuate significantly. I have not observed this behavior when comparing with other operators’ relays. After some time, the relay receives the Guard flag and the middle probability decreases, later it loses the Guard flag and the middle probability increases again. I waited for a long time to see whether this would stabilize, but the behavior has remained unchanged.
I would like to ask what the possible reasons for this could be, and whether it might be related to my configuration.
Relay fingerprint: 8E6E3B11C9AD2E9E3B3FC53A4E43D1AE3BEBE444
Tor metrics link: https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#details/8E6E3B11C9AD2E9E3B3FC53A4E43D... <https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#details/8E6E3B11C9AD2E9E3B3FC53A4E43D1AE3BEBE444>
Thank you in advance.
P.S. If you check the relay statistics, please ignore the low consensus weight and probabilities during the last month, that was caused by my own mistake.
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Hi Marco, The relay has mostly been online and reachable continuously. There was a period during the last month with reduced uptime and consensus weight due to a configuration mistake on my side, but aside from that it has been running 24/7 without intentional downtime. Kind regards Marco Moock via tor-relays <tor-relays@lists.torproject.org> ezt írta (időpont: 2026. febr. 23., H, 13:07):
Am 19.02.2026 um 08:56:39 Uhr schrieb Tor-relay via tor-relays:
Since the beginning, I have noticed that the guard and middle probabilities fluctuate significantly. I have not observed this behavior when comparing with other operators’ relays. After some time, the relay receives the Guard flag and the middle probability decreases, later it loses the Guard flag and the middle probability increases again. I waited for a long time to see whether this would stabilize, but the behavior has remained unchanged.
I would like to ask what the possible reasons for this could be, and whether it might be related to my configuration.
what about uptime and reachability?
Was it online all the time and reachable?
-- kind regards Marco
Send unsolicited bulk mail to 1771487799muell@cartoonies.org _______________________________________________ tor-relays mailing list -- tor-relays@lists.torproject.org To unsubscribe send an email to tor-relays-leave@lists.torproject.org
participants (3)
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Florentin Rochet -
Marco Moock -
Tor-relay