Plex Media Server MacOs having constant local and remote access

Plex Media Server
1

Server Version#:1.43.3.10829
Player Version#:plex web dashboard (mac os).

Mac Os Server M1 mini, dash on trashcan mac.

Nothing is playing, but a local access 20+Kbps an a remote of maybe 1-2 Kpbs.

System CPU use is 5+%, plex server 0%

I have run the server for 3+ years and never seen this.

Unknown access makes me nervous.

Can anyone help with this? THANKS!!

2

That doesn’t seem unreasonable for local access with a client open monitoring bandwidth (and CPU and RAM) statistics in real-time. The server has to get the data to the client, after all. In my own tests, that’s in the range you’re seeing

Also, just having a Plex client open, even if it isn’t actively streaming, will result in some traffic. This is true for remote clients as well.

Something else to be aware of is that Plex Media Server regularly sends SSDP requests to discover devices on the local network; this also results in some traffic.

3

I see your point, but it never showed in the last 3 years. I am not sure why that would show now.

Perhaps another reason?

4

Yeah, I’m not sure. Perhaps it just wasn’t being reported correctly in the past. My experience is that whenever there is a client connected and monitoring statistics, particularly local, it will show the bandwidth for that. Also, the server does send out (and sometimes receive responses for) those SSDP discovery requests. Your ~22 Kbps local bandwidth doesn’t seem at all strange to me.

Perhaps someone else will chime in and offer some additional insight.

5

Makes sense, and BTW… Thanks, I didn’t remember in my first reply.

6

You’re welcome! And for what it’s worth, I don’t mean to dismiss your experience; just sharing my own in the hopes that it may help.

7

The bandwidth graph itself is causing traffic. After all, the traffic information has to travel from the server to the web app. It has always been that way. This is not a recent change.

8

Didn’t I say that?

9

It was directed at OP.

11

And, as I said…

Over the last 3 years, the graph HAS NOT shown that very low level traffic. The nature of my inquiry is, ‘why is this showing now, when it never showed before?’

I appreciate what was said in earlier replies and said so. I also re-iterated my question.

I agree that your information made sense both times. But, why is it suddenly show ing now? Or, why did it not show before?

When troubleshooting, look for changes as well as general explanations.

12

Yes, it has. You just didn’t notice it before.
These are the requisites to see that kind of activity in the bandwidth monitor:

  • it must have been over 2 minutes since switching to the Dashboard page, (because the mere act of loading the Dashboard will produce traffic of a higher bandwidth)
  • nothing else must be going on on the server, (and by “nothing” I mean not even one user currently just browsing through a library)
  • there must have been nothing going on in the last 2 minutes either
  • the selector on the graph has to be set to “real time”

Then and only then, the bandwidth graph will scale its “sensitivity” such, that it will even show the minute data packets that are used to update itself.

13

I really appreciate your time and help, but your assumptions seem to be incorrect.

First, I am kinda OCD and have the activity graph up %50 percent of the time on my 3rd monitor that rarely has other windows on it (nothing blocking it).

<<Yes, it has. You just didn’t notice it before.>>

It has NOT shown. the graph is up and visible for hours at a time, showing real time, ‘All’ bandwidth, Loca and Remote are actually the DEFAULTS. I would have had to change it manually.

No local or remotes users (kinda shows on the same page), and my house was empty except for me. No other devices (smart tv, computer, or mobile device with the plex app or website open).

The chart is CURRENTLY behaving in precisely the fashion pshanew and you have described, but it, so I am assuming the logical explanation you and the other poster have confirmed is correct. But, (as I have said a few times) it did NOT behave that way before this. I was out of town a couple of days and this is happening since my travel.

The ‘change’ in server behavior is what concerns me. The local access is not significant, and the remote is all but non-existent. Curious question though, NO ONE is accessing this remotely at the moment, unless Plex is pinging me, why is there a 175bps spike in remote access every 4 seconds (average 72bps)? every 3rd ‘ping’ has a 2 second duration, the other 2 in the sequence just peak.

I am less concerned than I was about the bandwidth use, but I am extremely curious about the change in server ‘behavior’, any ideas?

14

These are not assumptions, but 11+ years of experience with Plex.

There is no change in behavior, as explained above.

15

That type of post is extraordinarily not helpful, and still incorrect. Calling me ‘wrong’ does not address the information I posted.

Just to be clear, I used the word ‘assumption’ since you are; incorrect, have not requested any more or more details information, don’t actually know about my system setup or background.

I understand you are a moderator, but could you not trash my legitimate question to the point where someone who might have an interesting answer or further line of inquiry is dissuaded from doing so? 11 years of plex experience is double mine (this server is only 3 years old), but there might be something you have not thought of. I was thinking along the lines of the recent server update, nothing in the release notes, but this might fall under a general bug fix category. Do you know of any resource that might have this info? I do not, but you seem to have more knowledge and access than I do.

16

All I’m saying is that the above behaviour of the bandwidth monitor, that we all are seeing is quite normal, expected, and not concerning at all.

17

Yes, it seems to be so, as I wrote before.

I was absolutely not seeing this before, so I am curious as to why it stated showing now.

Also, your explanation makes sense for local bandwidth, why the remote bandwidth (although very low) this again was not showing in the past, and my local client shouldn’t be affecting this?

18

Share server logs, if you like. That would show the source/destination for any recurring requests/bandwidth usage.

19 
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:17.063 [0x16b713000] Verbose — It took 0.0 sec to serialize a list with 0 elements.
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:17.138 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:21.532 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:27.027 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:27.133 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 0 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:27.175 [0x16b713000] Verbose — It took 0.0 sec to serialize a list with 0 elements.
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:30.246 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — We didn't receive any data from 192.168.0.205:65147 in time, dropping connection.
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:30.246 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — We didn't receive any data from 192.168.0.205:65122 in time, dropping connection.
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:30.251 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — We didn't receive any data from 192.168.0.205:65150 in time, dropping connection.
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:31.533 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:33.248 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — Didn't receive a request from 192.168.0.205:65147: stream truncated
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:33.248 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — Didn't receive a request from 192.168.0.205:65122: stream truncated
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:33.252 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — Didn't receive a request from 192.168.0.205:65150: stream truncated
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:36.969 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — We didn't receive any data from 192.168.0.205:65146 in time, dropping connection.
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:36.969 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — We didn't receive any data from 192.168.0.205:65149 in time, dropping connection.
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:37.030 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:37.164 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:39.972 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — Didn't receive a request from 192.168.0.205:65149: stream truncated
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:39.972 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — Didn't receive a request from 192.168.0.205:65146: stream truncated
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:41.536 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:47.028 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:47.167 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:47.177 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — We didn't receive any data from 192.168.0.205:65148 in time, dropping connection.
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:50.180 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — Didn't receive a request from 192.168.0.205:65148: stream truncated
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:51.537 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:57.033 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:57.159 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 0 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:46:57.214 [0x16b713000] Verbose — It took 0.0 sec to serialize a list with 0 elements.
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:01.540 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:07.035 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:07.190 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:11.541 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:13.054 [0x16cac3000] Verbose — [NSB/SSDP/HCl#e05] HTTP requesting GET http://192.168.0.110:8060/
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:17.036 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:17.190 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:17.216 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — We didn't receive any data from 192.168.0.205:65341 in time, dropping connection.
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:20.218 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — Didn't receive a request from 192.168.0.205:65341: stream truncated
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:21.544 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:27.037 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:27.188 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 0 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:27.241 [0x16b713000] Verbose — It took 0.0 sec to serialize a list with 0 elements.
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:31.546 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:37.041 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:37.216 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:41.548 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:44.631 [0x16cac3000] Verbose — [NSB/SSDP/HCl#e06] HTTP requesting GET http://192.168.0.205:8895/deviceDescription/52e18b6e-119f-372c-a25c-b8f4d8ce526d
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:44.935 [0x16cac3000] Verbose — [NSB/SSDP/HCl#e07] HTTP requesting GET http://192.168.0.110:8060/
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:47.043 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:47.220 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:47.243 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — We didn't receive any data from 192.168.0.205:65476 in time, dropping connection.
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:50.245 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — Didn't receive a request from 192.168.0.205:65476: stream truncated
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:51.549 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:57.042 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:57.213 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 0 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:47:57.268 [0x16b713000] Verbose — It took 0.0 sec to serialize a list with 0 elements.
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:01.550 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:07.046 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:07.243 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:11.552 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:12.793 [0x16cac3000] Verbose — [NSB/SSDP/HCl#e08] HTTP requesting GET http://192.168.0.205:8895/deviceDescription/52e18b6e-119f-372c-a25c-b8f4d8ce526d
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:12.874 [0x16cac3000] Verbose — [NSB/SSDP/HCl#e09] HTTP requesting GET http://192.168.0.110:8060/
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:17.048 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:17.247 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:17.270 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — We didn't receive any data from 192.168.0.205:49195 in time, dropping connection.
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:20.272 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — Didn't receive a request from 192.168.0.205:49195: stream truncated
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:21.557 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:27.050 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:27.245 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 0 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:27.305 [0x16b713000] Verbose — It took 0.0 sec to serialize a list with 0 elements.
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:31.556 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:37.054 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:37.275 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:41.559 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:47.053 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:47.279 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:47.309 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — We didn't receive any data from 192.168.0.205:49353 in time, dropping connection.
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:50.311 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — Didn't receive a request from 192.168.0.205:49353: stream truncated
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:51.562 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:57.054 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:57.273 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 0 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:48:57.319 [0x16b713000] Verbose — It took 0.0 sec to serialize a list with 0 elements.
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:01.564 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:07.056 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:07.305 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:11.564 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:17.058 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:17.305 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:17.321 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — We didn't receive any data from 192.168.0.205:49426 in time, dropping connection.
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:20.323 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — Didn't receive a request from 192.168.0.205:49426: stream truncated
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:21.566 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:27.060 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:27.302 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 0 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:27.324 [0x16b713000] Verbose — It took 0.0 sec to serialize a list with 0 elements.
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:31.567 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:37.063 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:37.316 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:41.571 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:43.518 [0x16cac3000] Verbose — [NSB/SSDP/HCl#e0a] HTTP requesting GET http://192.168.0.205:8895/deviceDescription/52e18b6e-119f-372c-a25c-b8f4d8ce526d
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:44.279 [0x16cac3000] Verbose — [NSB/SSDP/HCl#e0b] HTTP requesting GET http://192.168.0.110:8060/
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:47.063 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:47.318 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:47.327 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — We didn't receive any data from 192.168.0.205:49574 in time, dropping connection.
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:50.328 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — Didn't receive a request from 192.168.0.205:49574: stream truncated
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:51.575 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:57.066 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:57.303 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 0 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:49:57.349 [0x16b713000] Verbose — It took 0.0 sec to serialize a list with 0 elements.
Jul 20, 2026 12:50:01.575 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:50:07.066 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:50:07.334 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:50:11.578 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:50:17.068 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:50:17.337 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:50:17.351 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — We didn't receive any data from 192.168.0.205:49616 in time, dropping connection.
Jul 20, 2026 12:50:20.353 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — Didn't receive a request from 192.168.0.205:49616: stream truncated
Jul 20, 2026 12:50:21.579 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:50:27.070 [0x16bbff000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:50:27.332 [0x16bb73000] Verbose — WebSocket: processed 0 frame(s)
Jul 20, 2026 12:50:27.352 [0x16b713000] Verbose — It took 0.0 sec to serialize a list with 0 elements.
20

I don’t know if that’s helpful?

Thanks!!!

21

Or do you need the full load?

this seems to be all that’s happening in general.