SAP Application Server States

There are the following application server states.

Application Server State	Meaning
initial	The application server has logged on to the message server. When the server is in this state, it cannot be accessed.
starting	The application server starts the work process and initializes all required services. Requests cannot be processed in this phase.
active	This is the "normal" state of the application server. It receives and processes requests, and creates and sends requests to other servers.
passive	In this state, the application server can continue to process received requests or create requests itself. However, no new requests should be sent to the server. The purpose of this state is to "logically" remove from the system a server that has to be stopped during productive operation. The server finishes processing its existing requests, but does not accept any new requests and can be terminated without having to interrupt any relevant requests such as updates or batch jobs. This state can be changed to the "active" state.
shutdown	The application server is in the shutdown phase, that is, it will be terminated. This state is similar to the "passive" state, but cannot be changed to the "active" state. This state or phase ends with the termination of the server.
stop	The application server has terminated the connection to the message server and can no longer be accessed.

For a description of the functions for manipulating the state of an application server,.