> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.ainetwork.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.ainetwork.ai/ain-blockchain/ai-network-design/blockchain-database/states/state-types.md).

# State Types

Basically there are three types of blockchain states: values, rules, and owners.

| Type      | Content                                                                            |
| --------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| values    | Database values e.g. account balance                                               |
| rules     | Database rules to determine who has value write permissions                        |
| owners    | Database owners to determine who has ownership to change rules or ownership itself |
| functions | Database functions triggered by value change                                       |

All access APIs and internal data structure for each state type are designed to be separate. For example, they use different root nodes in the internal key-value pair tree structure.