Null is never zero

Why block.space and this wiki write "not measured" instead of 0: what a measured zero is, where nulls come from, and how the rule shows on the pages and in the APIs.

A figure that was not measured is not zero. block.space states it as the fourth of the rules every board follows: "'Not measured' is never 0." This wiki's writing rules repeat it: "Something not measured is 'not measured'." This page explains the difference, where it comes from, and where it shows.

Two different statements #

A measured zero says: the instrument looked and found nothing. The measurements document gives the example of a protocol that carries no artifact body. It "honestly measures zero in the content book. A measured zero is not a missing measurement." A pure-ledger transfer, such as an Omni or Counterparty send, has a Book C of 0 for this reason.
A null says: the instrument did not look, could not look, or has not finished. It is written in words, as not measured.

The rankings documentation lists the cases a board meets: "A book the instrument has not measured for a protocol, a sat the record has not bound to an inscription, a holder the appendix cannot see: each is written in words. A zero means a measured zero."

Why the rule exists #

Blockspace Value Theory (§2.2a) records the failure the rule guards against. A census that finds protocols by their markers cannot see a protocol that hides its marker. Counterparty encrypts its payloads, and a byte scan of SRC-721 across blocks 820,600 to 823,200 "returned zero occurrences" on 2026-08-04, while Counterparty's own API showed SRC-721 mints live from block 795,762. In BVT's words, a marker-driven census "does not report a small number. It reports zero."

From this BVT draws the conclusion that "unclaimed bytes" is an upper bound, not a residue, and that it should be stated as "not attributable by marker detection", "a claim about the instrument, not about the chain". BTI's design takes this up as requirement R3, instrument honesty: BTI must publish the measurement's own blind spots rather than present a residue as a fact about the chain.

Where nulls come from in BTI #

An unreachable source. The design's rule is to fail closed: "An unreachable source is a refusal, never a zero." The frontier cannot claim a protocol was searched if its source could not be asked. See the frontier and "as of".
A book not yet measured. block.space's summary API carries the rule in its units note: "null means not measured. It never means zero." The front page says it in one line: "A null in the regional book means not measured — never zero." On the latest read (2026-10-20), the summary listed all 21 protocols as measured in each of Books A, B and C.
A holder no source records. The holders appendix's rule is that "a protocol the appendix cannot see is 'not measured', never 0", and that a source whose delta is not yet written is "delta pending" by name.
Below a cut-off. A board that ranks the top 100,000 says so, with the smallest figure that made the list. The rankings rules add: "A figure below the cut-off is unranked, not zero."

How it looks on the pages #

The leaderboard's coverage page is the clearest example. On 2026-10-20 (appendix pass finished 09:20 UTC, books at block 972,199) it listed three protocols with no holder source: Omni (no Omni ledger is run), brc100 and op20 ("an OP_RETURN script ledger the appendix cannot read"). Each row shows its Book A total, 6.66 GB for Omni, and then "not measured" in the columns for bytes on addresses, share and addresses. It does not show 0, and it does not drop the row. See coverage.

How this wiki keeps the rule #

The wiki's live figures are read hourly from block.space and Blockspace Holdings' own node and indexers, and its build refuses a figure it has no reading for: a missing value fails the build rather than printing a number. The refresh job keeps a source's last reading, with its own "as of", when the source fails. Where a document gives no figure, the page says the documents do not give it.

Two different statements #

Why the rule exists #

Where nulls come from in BTI #

How it looks on the pages #

How this wiki keeps the rule #

Related #

Sources #