How to Use Armor Stands in Minecraft

Previously, we covered how to make an armor stand, and today, we’ll be focusing on how to use it in Minecraft. Even though it’s called an armor stand, it can actually hold other items as well, especially on the Bedrock edition where these entities can even make multiple default poses. So, with that said, let’s jump straight in!

What Can You Display on Armor Stands

In addition to armor, you can showcase carved pumpkins, mob heads, and elytra on armor stands in Minecraft. All of these can be equipped by the player. To place one of these items on an armor stand, you can right-click with it selected on your hotbar.

If the slot is already occupied, you won’t be able to put the items on the stand. To remove an item from the stand, you can right-click the general area with an empty hand. Doing this will take the item off of the stand and place it in your hotbar. There is no armor stand UI, so you can directly interact with it in-game.

Armor Stand Poses in Minecraft

Similarly to banners and signs, you can rotate an armor stand in multiple directions. But that’s not the fun part. The fun part is that you can make the armor stand have different poses. However, the Bedrock and Java editions do differ in this case. In the Bedrock edition, you can easily and quickly change the stand’s pose by right-clicking it while sneaking.

Moreover, since the stand has arms, it’s possible to put items inside its hands, so you can display a lot more than armor. In Java edition, it’s not possible to have the armor stand appear in different poses in the vanilla game. You can then use Minecraft mods and commands to make this a reality though.

Spawn an Armor Stand with Arms

Technically, you can’t make armor stand with arms in Java Edition. But by using the best Minecraft commands, you can spawn one with armors in your world. To do that, open your chat by pressing T and use the command below to summon an armor stand with arms:

/summon minecraft:armor_stand ~ ~ ~ {ShowArms:1}

Do keep in mind that the spawned armor stand will lose its arms when broken. So, only spawn it where you want to place it. Moreover, this custom armor stand can hold items like swords even on the Java edition. But you will have to break the stand to get that item back.

Enchantments for Armor Stands

Since the armor stand is an entity, it can be affected by Minecraft enchantments. For example, if you are using a sword with sweeping edge enchantment, a nearby armor stand will rise in the air.

This mechanic is used in some farm designs, like the extremely overpowered raid farm designed by Minecraft YouTuber ianxofour. Moreover, if the stand itself is equipped with an enchanted piece of armor, it can reflect its effect. That’s the case with the following enchantments:

• Frost walker boots will turn water into ice blocks if the stand is pushed by a piston.
• Depth strider will slow down the movement of the armor stand when the water pushes it around.
• Players will take damage if they attack an armor stand with a piece of armor having thorns.

In the Bedrock edition, it is possible to inflict an armor stand with different status effects and it can even “die” from the attacks. However, if you would first equipped it with armor and other items, the game will consider them as “naturally-generated.”

Now you know everything about using an armor stand in Minecraft. As you can tell, these entities can help make the world feel more alive and as if it’s inhabited. So, do you use armor stands often in your worlds? Would you like the Java edition stands to be like the Bedrock edition’s? Let us know in the comments below!