# Droplets API Reference

DigitalOcean Droplets are Linux-based virtual machines (VMs) that run on top of virtualized hardware. Each Droplet you create is a new server you can use, either standalone or as part of a larger, cloud-based infrastructure.

The Droplets API endpoints are organized into the following groups:

- [**Droplets**](droplets/) (19 endpoints): A Droplet is a DigitalOcean virtual machine. By sending requests to the Droplet endpoint, you can list, create, or delete Droplets.
- [**Droplet Actions**](droplet-actions/) (4 endpoints): Droplet actions are tasks that can be executed on a Droplet. These can be things like rebooting, resizing, snapshotting, etc.
- [**Images**](images/) (5 endpoints): A DigitalOcean image can be used to create a Droplet and may come in a number of flavors. Currently, there are five types of images: snapshots, backups, applications, distributions, and custom images.
- [**Image Actions**](image-actions/) (3 endpoints): Image actions are commands that can be given to a DigitalOcean image. In general, these requests are made on the actions endpoint of a specific image.
- [**Droplet Autoscale Pools**](droplet-autoscale-pools/) (8 endpoints): Droplet autoscale pools manage automatic horizontal scaling for your applications based on resource usage (CPU, memory, or both) or a static configuration.