diff --git a/pkg/network/capability/capability.go b/pkg/network/capability/capability.go
index 8a65800a12..1305067610 100644
--- a/pkg/network/capability/capability.go
+++ b/pkg/network/capability/capability.go
@@ -6,8 +6,13 @@ import (
 	"github.com/nspcc-dev/neo-go/pkg/io"
 )
 
-// MaxCapabilities is the maximum number of capabilities per payload.
-const MaxCapabilities = 32
+const (
+	// MaxCapabilities is the maximum number of capabilities per payload.
+	MaxCapabilities = 32
+
+	// MaxDataSize is the maximum size of capability payload.
+	MaxDataSize = 1024
+)
 
 // Capabilities is a list of Capability.
 type Capabilities []Capability
@@ -26,9 +31,14 @@ func (cs *Capabilities) EncodeBinary(br *io.BinWriter) {
 // checkUniqueCapabilities checks whether payload capabilities have a unique type.
 func (cs Capabilities) checkUniqueCapabilities() error {
 	err := errors.New("capabilities with the same type are not allowed")
-	var isFullNode, isTCP, isWS bool
+	var isFullNode, isArchived, isTCP, isWS bool
 	for _, cap := range cs {
 		switch cap.Type {
+		case ArchivalNode:
+			if isArchived {
+				return err
+			}
+			isArchived = true
 		case FullNode:
 			if isFullNode {
 				return err
@@ -44,6 +54,7 @@ func (cs Capabilities) checkUniqueCapabilities() error {
 				return err
 			}
 			isWS = true
+		default: /* OK to have duplicates */
 		}
 	}
 	return nil
@@ -59,13 +70,14 @@ type Capability struct {
 func (c *Capability) DecodeBinary(br *io.BinReader) {
 	c.Type = Type(br.ReadB())
 	switch c.Type {
+	case ArchivalNode:
+		c.Data = &Archival{}
 	case FullNode:
 		c.Data = &Node{}
 	case TCPServer, WSServer:
 		c.Data = &Server{}
 	default:
-		br.Err = errors.New("unknown node capability type")
-		return
+		c.Data = &Unknown{}
 	}
 	c.Data.DecodeBinary(br)
 }
@@ -110,3 +122,35 @@ func (s *Server) DecodeBinary(br *io.BinReader) {
 func (s *Server) EncodeBinary(bw *io.BinWriter) {
 	bw.WriteU16LE(s.Port)
 }
+
+// Archival represents an archival node that stores all blocks.
+type Archival struct{}
+
+// DecodeBinary implements io.Serializable.
+func (a *Archival) DecodeBinary(br *io.BinReader) {
+	var zero = br.ReadB() // Zero-length byte array as per Unknown.
+	if zero != 0 {
+		br.Err = errors.New("archival capability with non-zero data")
+	}
+}
+
+// EncodeBinary implements io.Serializable.
+func (a *Archival) EncodeBinary(bw *io.BinWriter) {
+	bw.WriteB(0)
+}
+
+// Unknown represents an unknown capability with some data. Other nodes can
+// decode it even if they can't interpret it. This is not expected to be used
+// for sending data directly (proper new types should be used), but it allows
+// for easier protocol extensibility (old nodes won't reject new capabilities).
+type Unknown []byte
+
+// DecodeBinary implements io.Serializable.
+func (u *Unknown) DecodeBinary(br *io.BinReader) {
+	*u = br.ReadVarBytes()
+}
+
+// EncodeBinary implements io.Serializable.
+func (u *Unknown) EncodeBinary(bw *io.BinWriter) {
+	bw.WriteVarBytes(*u)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/network/capability/capability_test.go b/pkg/network/capability/capability_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..696a4fe709
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/network/capability/capability_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+package capability
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/nspcc-dev/neo-go/internal/testserdes"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestUnknownEncodeDecode(t *testing.T) {
+	var (
+		u  = Unknown{0x55, 0xaa}
+		ud Unknown
+	)
+	testserdes.EncodeDecodeBinary(t, &u, &ud)
+}
+
+func TestArchivalEncodeDecode(t *testing.T) {
+	var (
+		a  = Archival{}
+		ad Archival
+	)
+	testserdes.EncodeDecodeBinary(t, &a, &ad)
+
+	var bad = []byte{0x02, 0x55, 0xaa} // Two-byte var-encoded string.
+	require.Error(t, testserdes.DecodeBinary(bad, &ad))
+}
+
+func TestCheckUniqueError(t *testing.T) {
+	// Successful cases are already checked in Version payload test.
+	var caps Capabilities
+
+	for _, bad := range [][]byte{
+		{0x02, 0x11, 0x00, 0x11, 0x00},                                     // 2 Archival
+		{0x02, 0x10, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x10, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00}, // 2 FullNode
+		{0x02, 0x01, 0x55, 0xaa, 0x01, 0x55, 0xaa},                         // 2 TCPServer
+		{0x02, 0x02, 0x55, 0xaa, 0x02, 0x55, 0xaa},                         // 2 WSServer
+	} {
+		require.Error(t, testserdes.DecodeBinary(bad, &caps))
+	}
+	for _, good := range [][]byte{
+		{0x02, 0x11, 0x00, 0x10, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00}, // Archival + FullNode
+		{0x02, 0x01, 0x55, 0xaa, 0x02, 0x55, 0xaa},       // TCPServer + WSServer
+		{0x02, 0xf0, 0x00, 0xf0, 0x00},                   // 2 Reserved 0xf0
+	} {
+		require.NoError(t, testserdes.DecodeBinary(good, &caps))
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/network/capability/type.go b/pkg/network/capability/type.go
index 0955c1b389..161a49f548 100644
--- a/pkg/network/capability/type.go
+++ b/pkg/network/capability/type.go
@@ -8,6 +8,15 @@ const (
 	TCPServer Type = 0x01
 	// WSServer represents WebSocket node capability type.
 	WSServer Type = 0x02
-	// FullNode represents full node capability type.
+	// FullNode represents a node that has complete current state.
 	FullNode Type = 0x10
+	// ArchivalNode represents a node that stores full block history.
+	// These nodes can be used for P2P synchronization from genesis
+	// (FullNode can cut the tail and may not respond to requests for
+	// old (wrt MaxTraceableBlocks) blocks).
+	ArchivalNode Type = 0x11
+
+	// 0xf0-0xff are reserved for private experiments.
+	ReservedFirst Type = 0xf0
+	ReservedLast  Type = 0xff
 )
diff --git a/pkg/network/payload/version_test.go b/pkg/network/payload/version_test.go
index e0bac25389..45315e6980 100644
--- a/pkg/network/payload/version_test.go
+++ b/pkg/network/payload/version_test.go
@@ -29,12 +29,24 @@ func TestVersionEncodeDecode(t *testing.T) {
 				Port: wsPort,
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			Type: capability.ArchivalNode,
+			Data: &capability.Archival{},
+		},
+		{
+			Type: 0xff,
+			Data: &capability.Unknown{},
+		},
 		{
 			Type: capability.FullNode,
 			Data: &capability.Node{
 				StartHeight: height,
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			Type: 0xf0,
+			Data: &capability.Unknown{0x55, 0xaa},
+		},
 	}
 
 	version := NewVersion(magic, id, useragent, capabilities)