diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/Script.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/Script.java
index cfdbf966b05e9..edcf6666817e9 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/Script.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/Script.java
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
         boolean hasType = type != null;
         out.writeBoolean(hasType);
         if (hasType) {
-            ScriptType.writeTo(type, out);
+            type.writeTo(out);
         }
         out.writeOptionalString(lang);
         out.writeMap(params);
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptModes.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptModes.java
index 4f9651b290abb..15393948d6654 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptModes.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptModes.java
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ static String operationKey(ScriptContext scriptContext) {
     }
 
     static String sourceKey(ScriptType scriptType) {
-        return SCRIPT_SETTINGS_PREFIX + "." + scriptType.getScriptType();
+        return SCRIPT_SETTINGS_PREFIX + "." + scriptType.getName();
     }
 
     static String getGlobalKey(String lang, ScriptType scriptType) {
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptSettings.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptSettings.java
index 07e0deb5b7135..27a6ad04a70c4 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptSettings.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptSettings.java
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public class ScriptSettings {
         for (ScriptType scriptType : ScriptType.values()) {
             scriptTypeSettingMap.put(scriptType, Setting.boolSetting(
                 ScriptModes.sourceKey(scriptType),
-                scriptType.getDefaultScriptEnabled(),
+                scriptType.isDefaultEnabled(),
                 Property.NodeScope));
         }
         SCRIPT_TYPE_SETTING_MAP = Collections.unmodifiableMap(scriptTypeSettingMap);
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ private static List<Setting<Boolean>> languageSettings(Map<ScriptType, Setting<B
                 boolean defaultLangAndType = defaultNonFileScriptMode;
                 // Files are treated differently because they are never default-deny
                 if (ScriptType.FILE == scriptType) {
-                    defaultLangAndType = ScriptType.FILE.getDefaultScriptEnabled();
+                    defaultLangAndType = ScriptType.FILE.isDefaultEnabled();
                 }
                 final boolean defaultIfNothingSet = defaultLangAndType;
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptType.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptType.java
index 77865daa37221..01592b57aad64 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptType.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptType.java
@@ -22,68 +22,118 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.ParseField;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamInput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamOutput;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.Writeable;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.Locale;
 
 /**
- * The type of a script, more specifically where it gets loaded from:
- * - provided dynamically at request time
- * - loaded from an index
- * - loaded from file
+ * ScriptType represents the way a script is stored and retrieved from the {@link ScriptService}.
+ * It's also used to by {@link ScriptSettings} and {@link ScriptModes} to determine whether or not
+ * a {@link Script} is allowed to be executed based on both default and user-defined settings.
  */
-public enum ScriptType {
+public enum ScriptType implements Writeable {
 
-    INLINE(0, "inline", "inline", false),
-    STORED(1, "id", "stored", false),
-    FILE(2, "file", "file", true);
+    /**
+     * INLINE scripts are specified in numerous queries and compiled on-the-fly.
+     * They will be cached based on the lang and code of the script.
+     * They are turned off by default because most languages are insecure
+     * (Groovy and others), but can be overriden by the specific {@link ScriptEngineService}
+     * if the language is naturally secure (Painless, Mustache, and Expressions).
+     */
+    INLINE ( 0 , new ParseField("inline") , false ),
 
-    private final int val;
-    private final ParseField parseField;
-    private final String scriptType;
-    private final boolean defaultScriptEnabled;
+    /**
+     * STORED scripts are saved as part of the {@link org.elasticsearch.cluster.ClusterState}
+     * based on user requests.  They will be cached when they are first used in a query.
+     * They are turned off by default because most languages are insecure
+     * (Groovy and others), but can be overriden by the specific {@link ScriptEngineService}
+     * if the language is naturally secure (Painless, Mustache, and Expressions).
+     */
+    STORED ( 1 , new ParseField("stored", "id") , false ),
+
+    /**
+     * FILE scripts are loaded from disk either on start-up or on-the-fly depending on
+     * user-defined settings.  They will be compiled and cached as soon as they are loaded
+     * from disk.  They are turned on by default as they should always be safe to execute.
+     */
+    FILE ( 2 , new ParseField("file") , true  );
 
+    /**
+     * Reads an int from the input stream and converts it to a {@link ScriptType}.
+     * @return The ScriptType read from the stream. Throws an {@link IllegalStateException}
+     * if no ScriptType is found based on the id.
+     */
     public static ScriptType readFrom(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
-        int scriptTypeVal = in.readVInt();
-        for (ScriptType type : values()) {
-            if (type.val == scriptTypeVal) {
-                return type;
-            }
-        }
-        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unexpected value read for ScriptType got [" + scriptTypeVal + "] expected one of ["
-                + INLINE.val + "," + FILE.val + "," + STORED.val + "]");
-    }
+        int id = in.readVInt();
 
-    public static void writeTo(ScriptType scriptType, StreamOutput out) throws IOException{
-        if (scriptType != null) {
-            out.writeVInt(scriptType.val);
+        if (FILE.id == id) {
+            return FILE;
+        } else if (STORED.id == id) {
+            return STORED;
+        } else if (INLINE.id == id) {
+            return INLINE;
         } else {
-            out.writeVInt(INLINE.val); //Default to inline
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Error reading ScriptType id [" + id + "] from stream, expected one of [" +
+                FILE.id + " [" + FILE.parseField.getPreferredName() + "], " +
+                STORED.id + " [" + STORED.parseField.getPreferredName() + "], " +
+                INLINE.id + " [" + INLINE.parseField.getPreferredName() + "]]");
         }
     }
 
-    ScriptType(int val, String name, String scriptType, boolean defaultScriptEnabled) {
-        this.val = val;
-        this.parseField = new ParseField(name);
-        this.scriptType = scriptType;
-        this.defaultScriptEnabled = defaultScriptEnabled;
+    private final int id;
+    private final ParseField parseField;
+    private final boolean defaultEnabled;
+
+    /**
+     * Standard constructor.
+     * @param id A unique identifier for a type that can be read/written to a stream.
+     * @param parseField Specifies the name used to parse input from queries.
+     * @param defaultEnabled Whether or not a {@link ScriptType} can be run by default.
+     */
+    ScriptType(int id, ParseField parseField, boolean defaultEnabled) {
+        this.id = id;
+        this.parseField = parseField;
+        this.defaultEnabled = defaultEnabled;
     }
 
-    public ParseField getParseField() {
-        return parseField;
+    public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
+        out.writeVInt(id);
     }
 
-    public boolean getDefaultScriptEnabled() {
-        return defaultScriptEnabled;
+    /**
+     * @return The unique id for this {@link ScriptType}.
+     */
+    public int getId() {
+        return id;
     }
 
-    public String getScriptType() {
-        return scriptType;
+    /**
+     * @return The unique name for this {@link ScriptType} based on the {@link ParseField}.
+     */
+    public String getName() {
+        return parseField.getPreferredName();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * @return Specifies the name used to parse input from queries.
+     */
+    public ParseField getParseField() {
+        return parseField;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return Whether or not a {@link ScriptType} can be run by default.  Note
+     * this can be potentially overriden by any {@link ScriptEngineService}.
+     */
+    public boolean isDefaultEnabled() {
+        return defaultEnabled;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return The same as calling {@link #getName()}.
+     */
     @Override
     public String toString() {
-        return name().toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT);
+        return getName();
     }
-
 }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/script/NativeScriptTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/script/NativeScriptTests.java
index eeafbde8850f6..efff2b0834e7f 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/script/NativeScriptTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/script/NativeScriptTests.java
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ public void testFineGrainedSettingsDontAffectNativeScripts() throws IOException
         Settings.Builder builder = Settings.builder();
         if (randomBoolean()) {
             ScriptType scriptType = randomFrom(ScriptType.values());
-            builder.put("script" + "." + scriptType.getScriptType(), randomBoolean());
+            builder.put("script" + "." + scriptType.getName(), randomBoolean());
         } else {
             ScriptContext scriptContext = randomFrom(ScriptContext.Standard.values());
             builder.put("script" + "." + scriptContext.getKey(), randomBoolean());
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptModesTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptModesTests.java
index a56d056cd6bbc..f6a02ae920630 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptModesTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptModesTests.java
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ public void testScriptTypeGenericSettings() {
         ScriptType[] randomScriptTypes = randomScriptTypesSet.toArray(new ScriptType[randomScriptTypesSet.size()]);
         Settings.Builder builder = Settings.builder();
         for (int i = 0; i < randomInt; i++) {
-            builder.put("script" + "." + randomScriptTypes[i].getScriptType(), randomScriptModes[i]);
+            builder.put("script" + "." + randomScriptTypes[i].getName(), randomScriptModes[i]);
         }
         this.scriptModes = new ScriptModes(scriptSettings, builder.build());
 
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptServiceTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptServiceTests.java
index 8ed5f4c957d1b..2b14ba3f4d0c4 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptServiceTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/script/ScriptServiceTests.java
@@ -266,9 +266,9 @@ public void testFineGrainedSettings() throws IOException {
         Settings.Builder builder = Settings.builder();
         for (Map.Entry<ScriptType, Boolean> entry : scriptSourceSettings.entrySet()) {
             if (entry.getValue()) {
-                builder.put("script" + "." + entry.getKey().getScriptType(), "true");
+                builder.put("script" + "." + entry.getKey().getName(), "true");
             } else {
-                builder.put("script" + "." + entry.getKey().getScriptType(), "false");
+                builder.put("script" + "." + entry.getKey().getName(), "false");
             }
         }
         for (Map.Entry<ScriptContext, Boolean> entry : scriptContextSettings.entrySet()) {
diff --git a/docs/plugins/lang-javascript.asciidoc b/docs/plugins/lang-javascript.asciidoc
index 64be9dbb033ba..001b7f222315a 100644
--- a/docs/plugins/lang-javascript.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/plugins/lang-javascript.asciidoc
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ GET test/_search
     "function_score": {
       "script_score": {
         "script": {
-          "id": "my_script", <2>
+          "stored": "my_script", <2>
           "lang": "javascript",
           "params": {
             "factor": 2
diff --git a/docs/plugins/lang-python.asciidoc b/docs/plugins/lang-python.asciidoc
index 0730f8b54b7ec..0e328d79f6052 100644
--- a/docs/plugins/lang-python.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/plugins/lang-python.asciidoc
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ GET test/_search
     "function_score": {
       "script_score": {
         "script": {
-          "id": "my_script", <2>
+          "stored": "my_script", <2>
           "lang": "python",
           "params": {
             "factor": 2
diff --git a/docs/reference/modules/scripting/using.asciidoc b/docs/reference/modules/scripting/using.asciidoc
index c3af586187911..b09a54e5c460d 100644
--- a/docs/reference/modules/scripting/using.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/modules/scripting/using.asciidoc
@@ -8,12 +8,12 @@ the same pattern:
 -------------------------------------
   "script": {
     "lang":   "...",  <1>
-    "inline" | "id" | "file": "...", <2>
+    "inline" | "stored" | "file": "...", <2>
     "params": { ... } <3>
   }
 -------------------------------------
 <1> The language the script is written in, which defaults to `painless`.
-<2> The script itself which may be specified as `inline`, `id`, or `file`.
+<2> The script itself which may be specified as `inline`, `stored`, or `file`.
 <3> Any named parameters that should be passed into the script.
 
 For example, the following script is used in a search request to return a
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ GET _scripts/groovy/calculate-score
 // CONSOLE
 // TEST[continued]
 
-Stored scripts can be used by specifying the `lang` and `id` parameters as follows:
+Stored scripts can be used by specifying the `lang` and `stored` parameters as follows:
 
 [source,js]
 --------------------------------------------------
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ GET _search
     "script": {
       "script": {
         "lang": "groovy",
-        "id":   "calculate-score",
+        "stored": "calculate-score",
         "params": {
           "my_modifier": 2
         }
diff --git a/docs/reference/query-dsl/template-query.asciidoc b/docs/reference/query-dsl/template-query.asciidoc
index b4b00e5babdcb..2d3b5724d49ef 100644
--- a/docs/reference/query-dsl/template-query.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/query-dsl/template-query.asciidoc
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ GET /_search
 {
     "query": {
         "template": {
-            "id": "my_template", <1>
+            "stored": "my_template", <1>
             "params" : {
                 "query_string" : "all about search"
             }
diff --git a/modules/lang-mustache/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/mustache/SearchTemplateRequest.java b/modules/lang-mustache/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/mustache/SearchTemplateRequest.java
index 249b00807755c..d7ac37f831329 100644
--- a/modules/lang-mustache/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/mustache/SearchTemplateRequest.java
+++ b/modules/lang-mustache/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/script/mustache/SearchTemplateRequest.java
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
         out.writeBoolean(simulate);
         out.writeBoolean(explain);
         out.writeBoolean(profile);
-        ScriptType.writeTo(scriptType, out);
+        scriptType.writeTo(out);
         out.writeOptionalString(script);
         boolean hasParams = scriptParams != null;
         out.writeBoolean(hasParams);
diff --git a/modules/lang-mustache/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/lang_mustache/40_template_query.yaml b/modules/lang-mustache/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/lang_mustache/40_template_query.yaml
index 2360dfc37f0bf..cfa97b8bc9f61 100644
--- a/modules/lang-mustache/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/lang_mustache/40_template_query.yaml
+++ b/modules/lang-mustache/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/lang_mustache/40_template_query.yaml
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
       warnings:
           - '[template] query is deprecated, use search template api instead'
       search:
-        body: { "query": { "template": { "id": "1", "params": { "my_value": "value1" } } } }
+        body: { "query": { "template": { "stored": "1", "params": { "my_value": "value1" } } } }
 
   - match: { hits.total: 1 }
 
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
       warnings:
           - '[template] query is deprecated, use search template api instead'
       search:
-        body: { "query": { "template": { "id": "/mustache/1", "params": { "my_value": "value1" } } } }
+        body: { "query": { "template": { "stored": "/mustache/1", "params": { "my_value": "value1" } } } }
 
   - match: { hits.total: 1 }