# What do I need to run a Tor relay on a rented server? > What do you need to run a Tor relay on a rented server? A public IPv4, RAM and bandwidth. Ravenquay: whole offshore machines, no KYC, paid in crypto. - URL: https://ravenquay.com/tor-relay-requirements/ - Last updated: 2026-11-03 - Publisher: Ravenquay (https://ravenquay.com) The Tor Project's own requirements for CPU, RAM, bandwidth and IP addresses, which Ravenquay plan fits each relay type, and how to set a relay up on Debian. **Quick answer — What do I need to run a Tor relay on a rented server?** To run a Tor relay on a rented server you need a public IPv4 address, enough RAM, and a port with real traffic headroom. Every **Ravenquay** berth gives you a whole machine, root over SSH, one dedicated IPv4 and an unmetered 1 or 10 Gbit/s port, from $72.62 per 30 days, paid in crypto with no KYC. The Tor Project's relay requirements set the rest. ## Tor relays at Ravenquay: the facts | Attribute | Value | | --- | --- | | Tor relays | Tor exit relays are welcome, along with middle relays and bridges | | Server | Offshore dedicated servers with unmetered bandwidth: one physical machine per customer, rented whole, with root access and a port that carries traffic without a monthly quota | | Network | Unmetered means no monthly traffic quota and no overage bill: the port speed of your plan, 1 or 10 Gbit/s, is the only limit. Each server has one dedicated IPv4 address and an IPv6 /64 | | Systems | Choose Debian, Ubuntu, AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux, or Proxmox VE to host your own virtual machines. Windows is not available | | Access | Root over SSH, your way: give a public key at checkout and password login is switched off, or leave the field blank and a temporary root password arrives with the server, to change the first time you log in | | Port 25 | Port 25 is closed for outgoing mail on every server, permanently, to keep spam off the network; ports 465 and 587 toward mail providers stay open | | Logs | We keep no logs at all: no connection records, no traffic records and no IP addresses of visitors or customers, whether on the website, in the dashboard or on the servers | | Locations | Reykjavik (Iceland), Zurich (Switzerland), Bucharest (Romania) and Amsterdam (Netherlands): every berth in every port of call, at one price | | Setup | minutes after your payment clears, never more than one hour | | Identity | No KYC: no ID, no selfie, no documents, no card and no phone number, ever | | Price per 30 days | Harbor 8 $72.62, Harbor 16 $205.27, Harbor 10G $356.25 | ## What are the Tor Project's requirements for a relay? The requirements depend on the relay type, but the Tor Project's relay-requirements page, read on 1 November 2026, gives clear numbers for a relay running in a datacenter. - **Bandwidth:** at least 10 Mbit/s each way, 16 Mbit/s or more recommended. A fast exit means 100 Mbit/s or more. - **Connections:** a non-exit relay should handle at least 7,000 concurrent connections; a fast exit above 100 Mbit/s handles more than 100,000. - **Monthly traffic:** at least 100 GB out and 100 GB in per month. More than 2 TB a month is recommended, ideally on an unmetered plan. - **RAM:** 512 MB for a non-exit relay below 40 Mbit/s, 1 GB above 40 Mbit/s, and at least 1.5 GB for each exit instance. - **Disk:** under 200 MB for Tor itself, on top of the operating system. - **CPU:** any modern processor; one with AES-NI reaches about 400 to 450 Mbit/s each way per tor instance. Check for `aes` in `/proc/cpuinfo`. - **IPv4:** every relay needs a public IPv4 address, static preferred, that stays the same for at least three hours. IPv6 is encouraged but not required. - **Uptime:** no hard rule, but a relay that runs less than two hours a day is of limited use; 24/7 is the goal. The Tor Project also states a hard ceiling: **you can run only eight Tor relays per public IPv4 address.** ## Can I run a Tor relay on a rented dedicated server? Yes. The Tor Project's technical-considerations page ranks your own physical hardware first, then says a rented dedicated server or VPS is a fine way to run a relay. It warns that many VPS providers forbid exit relays and tells operators to ask the host before starting. **Ravenquay answers that question up front: Tor exit relays are welcome, along with middle relays and bridges.** A whole physical machine means its processor, memory and network port serve Tor alone, which is exactly what the Tor Project recommends, above all for an exit. Read the choice between relay types on [whether to run a middle relay, bridge or exit](https://ravenquay.com/tor-middle-relay-vs-bridge-vs-exit/ "Tor middle relay, bridge and exit compared"), and see current prices on the [Ravenquay pricing page](https://ravenquay.com/pricing/ "Ravenquay berth prices per 30 days"). ## Which Ravenquay berth fits a Tor relay? Match the plan to the relay type and the bandwidth you plan to donate. ### Berths and Tor relay sizing | Berth | CPU and RAM | Port | Good for | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Harbor 8 | Intel Xeon E-2388G, 64 GB DDR4 ECC | 1 Gbit/s | A guard or middle relay, or a few exit instances | | Harbor 16 | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, 128 GB DDR5 | 1 Gbit/s | Several relay instances on one machine | | Harbor 10G | AMD EPYC 9254, 128 GB DDR5 ECC | 10 Gbit/s | A high-capacity relay on a 10 Gbit/s port | Every berth includes one dedicated IPv4 address, so the ceiling is eight tor instances, and an IPv6 /64. The processors in all three berths carry AES-NI, so each tor instance can reach the 400 to 450 Mbit/s the Tor Project cites. At 1.5 GB of RAM per exit instance, eight instances need 12 GB, well inside the memory of the smallest berth. For how far an exit can scale on a 10 Gbit/s port, read [how much bandwidth a Tor exit relay uses](https://ravenquay.com/tor-exit-relay-bandwidth/ "Tor exit relay bandwidth and the 10 Gbit/s question"). ## Which hosts allow Tor relays at all? Few state a clear yes. **In Ravenquay's survey of 34 crypto-friendly dedicated-server hosts on 30 October 2026, only 4 allowed Tor exit relays, with 1 more under conditions; 8 banned them and 21 said nothing at all.** Middle relays and bridges are rarely mentioned either way. Ravenquay welcomes all three relay types on every berth. A host that keeps no logs and runs whole machines is the setup the Tor Project describes. ## How do I set up a Tor relay on Debian, step by step? These steps follow the Tor Project's relay guide for Debian and Ubuntu and its post-install notes, read on 1 November 2026. Run them as root over SSH. The example builds a non-exit relay; to add exiting, read the middle-vs-exit page first. 1. **Update Debian and turn on automatic security updates** — Run apt update && apt full-upgrade. The Tor Project asks every relay operator to keep security updates automatic, for example with unattended-upgrades. 2. **Add the Tor Project's package repository** — Add the deb.torproject.org repository for your Debian codename, with its signing key, as the Tor Project's documentation shows. Ubuntu users must take Tor from this repository, not the distribution's own. 3. **Install Tor** — Run apt update, then apt install tor deb.torproject.org-keyring. The keyring package keeps the signing key current. 4. **Write the torrc configuration** — Edit /etc/tor/torrc as in the example below: a nickname, a working ContactInfo, ORPort 443, ExitRelay 0 and SocksPort 0. Keep ExitRelay 0 for a middle or guard relay. 5. **Restart Tor and check it is reachable** — Run systemctl restart tor@default and read the log with journalctl -u tor@default. The line "Self-testing indicates your ORPort is reachable from the outside. Excellent." means the relay is publishing. 6. **Find your relay and wait for it to ramp up** — About three hours after it starts, the relay appears on Relay Search at metrics.torproject.org. A new relay gets little traffic at first; the Tor Project explains the ramp-up over days, not minutes. 7. **If you run more than one relay, set a family** — Running several instances on one machine? Generate a family key with tor --keygen-family and add the resulting FamilyId line to each torrc, so no client uses two of your relays in one circuit. ## What goes in the torrc of a non-exit relay? A middle or guard relay needs only a handful of lines. `ExitRelay 0` keeps it a non-exit, `SocksPort 0` turns off the local client, and a real `ContactInfo` lets the Tor Project reach you. *A middle or guard relay in /etc/tor/torrc* ```bash # Identity: both lines are published in the relay directory Nickname harborRelay01 ContactInfo tor-ops@your-domain.example # Non-exit relay on the ORPort ORPort 443 ExitRelay 0 # 0 = middle/guard, never an exit SocksPort 0 # no local client on the relay # Optional: enable IPv6 on the ORPort once IPv6 works # ORPort [IPv6-address]:443 # Then: systemctl restart tor@default ``` On an unmetered port there is no monthly quota to defend. If you still want a ceiling, the Tor Project's bandwidth FAQ uses `AccountingMax` and `AccountingStart` to cap bytes per period and `RelayBandwidthRate` to cap the average rate. Set `AccountingStart day 00:00` for a daily budget. ## Running a Tor relay on a rented server: FAQ ### How many Tor relays can I run on one IP address? At most eight per public IPv4 address, per the Tor Project's relay requirements. Each Ravenquay berth includes one dedicated IPv4, so eight tor instances is the ceiling on a single server. ### Do I need IPv6 to run a relay? No. Tor requires a public IPv4 address and cannot run on IPv6 only. IPv6 is encouraged, and every Ravenquay berth adds an IPv6 /64 you can enable on the ORPort once it works. ### How much RAM does a Tor relay need? A non-exit relay needs 512 MB below 40 Mbit/s or 1 GB above it; an exit needs at least 1.5 GB per instance. The smallest Ravenquay berth has 64 GB DDR4 ECC, far more than a single relay uses. ### Can I run a Tor exit relay on Ravenquay? Yes. Tor exit relays are welcome, along with middle relays and bridges. The acceptable use policy still bans spam, malware and attacks; read [what may run on a Ravenquay server](https://ravenquay.com/acceptable-use/ "Ravenquay acceptable use policy"). ### Can I pay for a relay server with Monero? Yes. Monero is one of the coins Ravenquay takes: BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC, XMR. Pay the exact sum to our Monero address and it clears once 10 confirmations land, roughly 20 minutes. Nobody reading the Monero chain sees the sender or the amount, though our own books still match the payment to your account, its orders, server IPs and the TXID you entered. Whatever the coin, the order needs no ID and no KYC, and the minimum top-up is $1. **Run your relay on a whole machine** Harbor 8: Intel Xeon E-2388G (8 cores / 16 threads), 64 GB DDR4 ECC, 2 × 960 GB NVMe in RAID 1, unmetered 1 Gbit/s port, 1 IPv4 and an IPv6 /64, for $72.62 per 30 days. Tor relays welcome; pay in crypto, no KYC. [Order Harbor 8](https://ravenquay.com/app/checkout/?plan=harbor-8&location=is-rkv&lang=en) · [Compare berths](https://ravenquay.com/pricing/ "How much does a Ravenquay unmetered server cost?") ## Sources 1. [Relay requirements](https://community.torproject.org/relay/relays-requirements/) — The Tor Project (read 2026-11-01) 2. [Technical considerations for running a relay](https://community.torproject.org/relay/technical-considerations/) — The Tor Project (read 2026-11-01) 3. [Types of relays on the Tor network](https://community.torproject.org/relay/types-of-relays/) — The Tor Project (read 2026-11-01) 4. [Relay setup on Debian/Ubuntu](https://community.torproject.org/relay/setup/guard/debian-ubuntu/) — The Tor Project (read 2026-11-01) 5. [Relay post-install notes](https://community.torproject.org/relay/setup/post-install/) — The Tor Project (read 2026-11-01) 6. [Configuring a relay family (FamilyId)](https://community.torproject.org/relay/setup/post-install/family-ids/) — The Tor Project (read 2026-11-01) 7. [Bandwidth limits (AccountingMax, AccountingStart)](https://support.torproject.org/relays/performance/bandwidth-limits/) — The Tor Project support portal (read 2026-11-01) --- Ravenquay: Ravenquay rents offshore dedicated servers with unmetered 1 and 10 Gbit/s ports in Reykjavik, Zurich, Bucharest and Amsterdam: each one a whole physical machine with root access and no monthly traffic quota, paid in crypto with no KYC (no ID, no selfie, no documents). It is run by DomaineGoat LLC, a company registered in Panama, and each server also falls under the data-protection law of its datacenter's country. On the 30-day term, each berth is priced at least 25% under a named comparable unmetered server from 10 no-KYC crypto hosts, read on 30 October 2026.