Dragonriders — living in weyrs (lower case w, or the individual cavern where a single dragon and his/her rider lives), usually in the cliff faces in Northern Weyrs.
Weyrlings — young, immature dragons and their riders. Young dragons generally fly for the first time at about one Turn (year) and train with the Weyrling Wing until mature enough to join a Fighting Wing, usually between 1 1/2 to 2 Turns. Weyrling dragonriders may not join a Wing until age 16, no matter how mature their dragon. Weyrling riders who have completed training but are not yet Turned 16 are often assigned messenger or sentry duties until they come of age. They do not have adult level rank/status until they have been accepted into a Fighting Wing. Lower Caverns staff — Often, but not always, the Candidates who failed to Impress a dragon, or those who have run away from home to live in the more liberal, accepting atmosphere of the Weyr. Lower Cavern staff are often the grown children of dragonriders. This includes cooks, servers, cleaning staff for common areas, those who care for the beasts that will feed the dragons, and many others. Lower Caverns workers often satisfy the sexual needs of riders who have lost a mating flight. They are led and organized by a headwoman, who is usually ranked just under the weyrleaders in authority.
Weyrbrats — The children who are born in the Weyr are called (affectionately) Weyrbrats. Weyrbrats may be the children of Dragonriders, Lower Cavern staff or Crafters. It is the tradition in the Weyr that children are not raised by their natural parents, as dragonrider parents do not have time to raise a child while caring for a dragon. This community model also serves to reduce parental favoritism. Children are Fostered as soon as they are weaned from their mother's milk, and initially sent to the Weyr's creche. Once the child has grown to show distinct personality and talents, they are matched with a fosterer (foster parent) who suits the child's temperament. Every male Weyrbrat has the right to become a Candidate and stand for Impression at age 18. Female Weyrbrats may become Candidates if there is a gold egg in the Hatching Grounds. By the end of the Ninth Pass, female Greenriders have become more common, so female Weyrbrats may be allowed to join the ranks of Candidates even if there is no gold egg in more progressive Weyrs.
Candidates — Young people who are given the opportunity to become a dragonrider. They are chosen through Search, where a sensitive dragon, usually a blue or green, seeks mentally sensitive boys and girls who are of the correct temperament to match minds with a dragon hatchling. Usually those searched are young males, aged 12 — 18, although older girls (aged 16-22) are sometimes searched if there is a gold egg available. With the addition of any Weyrbrat aged 12-18, the Searched are familiarized with the eggs and are present when the eggs hatch. The Hatchlings choose, or Impress a Candidate who suits his or her temperamental and/or other (still unknown) needs. The minimum age of the Candidates is decided by the Weyrleaders and may be changed according to the Weyr's needs. If there is a greater need for older more responsible riders, the age may be pushed back, if there is a lack of Candidates, the age may be lowered. The minimum age may also be changed depending on whether Pern is experiencing Fall or Pass. The youngest anyone has Impressed a dragon is aged 10 (F'nor), the oldest seems to be in their early twenties. There have been periods of time in Pern's history where females have been able to Impress and ride Green dragons. Whether or not female Candidates are allowed on the Hatching Grounds if there is no gold egg is unknown, but it can be speculated this may be allowed in more progressive, or liberal, Weyrs.
Craftsmen — assigned to the Weyr by their Craft, Craftsmen serve the dragonriders and support staff as they would serve any Hold. The position is usually a high prestige assignment, and they are autonomous from Weyr structure. However some craftsman gain their position at a Weyr by being Searched and proficient in their craft discipline, at which point they are appointed by their Mastercrafter as the official representative.

Gold dragons, also called queens, were the largest dragons, being 70-80 feet long. Ramoth, the largest queen ever hatched, was said to be as long from nose to tail as a jet plane according to The Dragonlovers Guide To Pern (although that book provides measurements inconsistent with other sources). They were notable for being the primary reproducers of the species, having strong maternal instincts and producing larger, stronger clutches than a green could. Gold dragons were by far the rarest dragons on Pern, at just less than 1% of the population. They ranged in color from pale yellow to dark, antique gold. They were dominant over all other colors; any non-gold dragon would invariably obey a queen's orders, even against the wishes of its own rider. Queens were physically incapable of chewing firestone or breathing fire. Attempting to do so invariably resulted in them biting their tongues or cheeks and vomiting the stone back up. However, they did fight Thread - they flew in the lowest wing, with their riders armed with specially designed flamethrowers to flame any Thread missed by the wings above. This reduced the danger to both rider and dragon, as well as greatly reducing the amount of times they had to go between, which could result in a pregnant queen aborting. An egg that was going to hatch a gold dragon was very distinct, developing a gold color a short time after being laid and being larger than other eggs. The mother would also separate it from the others and was often much more possessive of it. A gold dragon would always Impress a heterosexual female and most Weyrfolk believed they prefer young women who were not raised in the Weyr.

Bronze dragons were the largest males (55-65 feet long), although they were significantly smaller than the queens. Bronzes only comprised of about 5% of all dragons. Their color was described as golden-green, but some were dark enough to be nearly considered brown. They were almost always the ones to mate with queens, as the smaller colors generally lacked the stamina to chase and catch the gold dragons when they rose to mate. Due to the 5-1 bronze/gold ratio and the infrequency of gold mating flights, they often mated with greens (the losers of a gold flight almost always sought a green for their needs), but their size often put them at a disadvantage in chasing the smaller, more agile females. The senior bronze of a Weyr was determined by which bronze won the mating flight of the senior gold. The rider of a bronze dragon is always a heterosexual male.

Brown dragons comprised about 15% of the draconic population and were 50-60 feet long. They ranged in color from tan to chocolate. They would occasionally mate with queens, although this was rare, and became even more rare as the dragons increase in size; by Ramoth's time in the Ninth Pass it was unheard of, although some were willing to try. All brownriders in the Pern novels were men; most were heterosexual, but bisexual or "masculine" homosexual brownriders were not rare. Anne has also stated that masculine females also have the ability to impress to a brown

Blue dragons were the smallest males (35-45 feet long) and made up about a third (30%) of all dragons on Pern. Their color range encompassed nearly the whole blue spectrum. They were nearly as agile as greens, but unlike the greens, they often had enough stamina to last for an entire Threadfall. They were noted to be some of the fastest straight-line flyers and often Impressed similarly quick riders. They mated only with greens, as they were simply too small to keep up with a massive queen over a long mating flight. There were few prominent blue dragons or blueriders in the books. Some assume the position of teaching the new riders after their Impression. Blue riders are typically homosexual or bisexual, though some are heterosexual. In interviews, Anne has stated that homosexual women may be able to Impress a Blue dragon, however it has only been shown to happen once in the books with Xhinna Impressing Tazith.

Green dragons were the smallest normal color (30-40 feet long), and made up about half of all dragons on Pern (50%). Their color range encompassed nearly the whole green spectrum. They were female, but unlike the queens, they could chew firestone and therefore produce flame, although this had the (helpful) side effect of sterilizing them. They were extremely valuable in Threadfall because of their agility, but they lacked the stamina to last an entire Fall and generally flew in two or three shifts. Originally, greens Impressed to girls; however, after various natural disasters and plagues decimated Pern's population, women were needed to help repopulate the planet. Since going between during pregnancy could induce miscarriage and because removing pregnant riders from the Wings reduced the effectiveness of the Wings, it became impractical to present large numbers of women as candidates for Impression. Thus, green dragons began Impressing homosexual boys; by the time of the end of the Second Pass, female greenriders were becoming rare. By the Third Pass, very few knew that green riders ever existed and no girls had been presented at Impressions (except for golds) in several generations, although there was a brief resurgence. By the time of Moreta in the Sixth Pass, female greenriders were entirely forgotten, although greens gradually begin Impressing to women again in the Ninth Pass. Females of any sexual orientation may Impress Green.

Ruth was the only known white dragon, whose rider was Lord Jaxom of Ruatha Hold. He was not an albino, as his hide contained very faint patches of all the normal dragon colors, visible on close examination when Ruth was very clean. Ruth's egg would not have hatched if Jaxom had not forced it open and released the dragonet from an unusually tough shell; thus, it seems likely that white coloration in dragons is normally a lethal mutation, as it is tradition to not assist dragonets who can't hatch on their own. It appears that a white dragonet is unable to break out of their own egg, perhaps due to possibly inadequate strength of the dragonet or the unusually tough shell of a white's egg such as Ruth's had, or a combination of both. Although his parents were the largest queen (Ramoth) and largest bronze (Mnementh) in the history of Pern, Ruth was smaller than even a normal green dragon in his time; he was only slightly larger than the largest dragons of the first generation. While his exact length was never given, it does state that he stood higher than a runnerbeast (horse) at the shoulder. Extrapolation would suggest that he might have been eighteen feet long. He was male or neuter (undetermined), and assumed sterile, with no urge to mate. Ruth also had the unusual ability to intuitively orient himself in time and space.