Armor Stand

An armor stand is an inanimate entity that can wear armor. It can also hold items and be posed (but these are not possible in Survival in Java Edition).

Obtaining[]

An armor stand can be broken by quickly attacking it twice, dropping itself and any armor placed onto it.

Crafting[]

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Stick + Smooth Stone Slab

Natural generation[]

Two armor stands are found in each taiga village outdoor armory, one equipped with an iron helmet, the other with an iron chestplate.

Usage[]

Players can use armor stands to hold armor, mob heads, carved pumpkins, and elytra. Commands can be used to give them other items. The stand does not have a GUI, so players interact with it directly. Armor stands are also able to be placed in different orientations, similar to banners or signs. Armor stands are entities, allowing them to be pushed by pistons, moved by flowing water, pulled with fishing rods, pushed by players (with knockback), and bounced by slime blocks.

Using armor on the stand places the armor if done on a bare spot. Conversely, clicking on armor with a bare hand removes the armor and places it in the highlighted hotbar slot. It is not possible to take or place items from the armor stand's hands unless playing on Bedrock Edition.

Armor, mob heads, or carved pumpkins can be automatically placed on armor stands with a dispenser.

Armor stands can be customized further to have arms, pose, disobey gravity, dual wield and other things by summoning them using /summon with NBT tags.

In maps heavily using command blocks, armor stands can be used to keep scoreboard objectives that are 'global' to the map, run commands, etc.

In Bedrock Edition, the pose of the armor stand can be changed by interacting with the armor stand (or pressing the Pose button on mobile devices) while sneaking, or by using a redstone signal. There are 13 possible poses. Armor stands can also hold items by interacting with the armor stand (or pressing the Equip button on mobile devices) while holding an item that cannot be worn.

Below are the poses:

No.	Namespace ID	Redstone power			Image
0	animation.armor_stand.default_pose	0
1	animation.armor_stand.no_pose	1
2	animation.armor_stand.solemn_pose	2
3	animation.armor_stand.athena_pose	3
4	animation.armor_stand.brandish_pose	4
5	animation.armor_stand.honor_pose	5
6	animation.armor_stand.entertain_pose	6
7	animation.armor_stand.salute_pose	7
8	animation.armor_stand.hero_pose	8, 13 or more
9	animation.armor_stand.riposte_pose	9
10	animation.armor_stand.zombie_pose	10
11	animation.armor_stand.cancan_a_pose	11
12	animation.armor_stand.cancan_b_pose	12

Behavior[]

Because armor stands are entities, they obey gravity, allowing them to fall and rest on non-full blocks such as enchanting tables, snow layers and slabs.

Any armor on the stand drops when the stand is broken. Armor stands can display enchanted and all forms of dyed armor. The effects of most enchanted armor have no effect when on an armor stand, with three exceptions:

• Frost Walker creates frosted ice blocks on water as usual if an armor stand is pushed with a piston.
• Depth Strider slows the movement of the armor stand when being pushed with water.
• A player may take damage from hitting an armor stand that holds armor enchanted with Thorns.

Armor stands are not damaged by cacti but can be broken by arrows. An armor stand destroyed by an explosion or a firework does not drop as an item. Armor stands in water and lava at the same time are not consumed by the lava.

In Bedrock Edition, armor stands can be affected by status effects. They can be 'killed' by Harming and Decay splash/lingering potions, lava, fire, and campfires, and they play the player death sound and fall to their side and disappear, yielding no armor stand item. If an armor stand is equipped with an item or armor, that item or armor is considered as "naturally-spawned equipment" with an 8.5% chance of dropping when the armor stand "dies" from the Instant Damage or the Wither status effect. If the dropped item is any form of weapon, tool or armor, it drops in a badly damaged state because the game considers it as "naturally-spawned equipment".^[1]

The stand wobbles slightly when being hit by the player.

In Java Edition, it is possible to create an armor stand with arms using the /summon command. It is also possible to change an armor stand without arms into a stand with arms by using the /data command. The commands are as follows:

• /data merge entity @e[type=armor_stand,sort=nearest,limit=1] {ShowArms:1}, which changes the nearest armor stand into an armor stand with arms.
• /summon minecraft:armor_stand ~ ~ ~ {ShowArms:1}, which summons a new armor stand with arms shown.
• /summon armor_stand ~ ~ ~ {Rotation:[0.0f]}, which summons a new armor stand that faces a desired direction (dependent on changing "0.0f" to other numbers like "90.0f" or "180.0f", otherwise it faces the same way as a default armor stand).

Sounds[]

Java Edition:
Armor stands use the Friendly Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Block breaking	Friendly Creatures	When an armor stand is damaged	entity.armor_stand.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit	1.0	1.0	16
	Block broken	Friendly Creatures	When an armor stand is destroyed	entity.armor_stand.break	subtitles.block.generic.break	1.0	1.0	16
	Block placed	Blocks	When an armor stand is placed	entity.armor_stand.place	subtitles.block.generic.place	1.0	1.0	16
	Block placed	Friendly Creatures	When an armor stand falls onto a block at a high speed[more information needed]	entity.armor_stand.fall	subtitles.entity.armorstand.fall	1.0	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Friendly Creatures	When an armor stand is damaged	mob.armor_stand.hit	1.0	1.0
	Friendly Creatures	When an armor stand is destroyed	mob.armor_stand.break	1.0	1.0
	Friendly Creatures	When an armor stand is placed	mob.armor_stand.place	1.0	1.0
	Friendly Creatures	When an armor stand falls onto a block at a high speed[more information needed]	mob.armor_stand.land	1.0	1.0

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

Armor Stand	Identifier	Form	Translation key
Item	armor_stand	Item	item.minecraft.armor_stand

Armor Stand	Identifier	Translation key
Entity	armor_stand	entity.minecraft.armor_stand

Bedrock Edition:

Armor Stand	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Translation key
Item	armor_stand	552	Item	item.armor_stand.name

Armor Stand	Identifier	Numeric ID	Translation key
Entity	armor_stand	61	entity.armor_stand.name

Item data[]

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

In Bedrock Edition, armor stands have no additional item tag.

See Bedrock Edition level format/Item format.

Entity data[]

Armor stands have entity data associated with them that contain various properties of the entity.

Java Edition:

Disabled slots[]

Binary	Integer number	Result
2^0	1	Disable adding or changing mainhand item
2^1	2	Disable adding or changing boots item
2^2	4	Disable adding or changing leggings item
2^3	8	Disable adding or changing chestplate item
2^4	16	Disable adding or changing helmet item
2^5	32	Disable adding or changing offhand item
2^8	256	Disable removing or changing mainhand item
2^9	512	Disable removing or changing boots item
2^10	1024	Disable removing or changing leggings item
2^11	2048	Disable removing or changing chestplate item
2^12	4096	Disable removing or changing helmet item
2^13	8192	Disable removing or changing offhand item
2^16	65536	Disable adding mainhand item
2^17	131072	Disable adding boots item
2^18	262144	Disable adding leggings item
2^19	524288	Disable adding chestplate item
2^20	1048576	Disable adding helmet item
2^21	2097152	Disable adding offhand item

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Video[]

Note: This video is outdated as Zoglins now attack armor stands

History[]

Java Edition
1.8		August 5, 2014			Searge tweeted a image of an armor stand. The appearance was changed before release.
		August 5, 2014			Showed crafting recipe and name "[Armor Stand]", both were changed before release.
		14w32a			Added armor stands.
		14w32b			The item texture has changed.
					Pick-block can now be used on armor stands.
					Armor stands can now no longer be crafted using slabs other than stone slabs.
		14w32c			Added a NoBasePlate tag for the armor stand.
		14w33a			Breaking particles have been added for the armor stand.
1.8.1		pre1			Added Marker tag for armor stands.
1.9		15w31a			Armor stands can now dual wield.
					HandItems and ArmorItems tags added for armor stands, which is intended to replace the Equipment tag.
		15w33a			The Equipment tag has been removed from armor stands.
		15w47a			The armor stand now wobbles when hit by the player.
		16w02a			Marker ArmorStands now outline their equipment only when glowing.
1.11		16w32a			The entity ID of the armor stand has been changed from ArmorStand to armor_stand.
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, this item's numeral ID was 416.
1.14		18w43a			The texture of armor stands has been changed to the new oak planks texture.
					The texture of armor stand items has been slightly changed. (Comparison: )
		18w50a			The texture of armor stands has been changed again.
					Armor stands now generate in taiga villages.
1.15		19w42a			Armor stands can now be placed by dispensers.
1.16		20w07a			Armor stands no longer fall through fences and walls when placed.[2]
		20w14a			Zoglins now attack armor stands.
1.17		20w45a			The model of the armor stand has been changed.
		20w46a			The model of the armor stand has been changed back to how it was in 1.16.
1.18		Pre-release 5			Changed smooth stone texture on armor stand.
1.19.4		23w03a			Armor stands now preserve custom names when placed and broken.
1.20 (Experimental)		23w04a			An armor stand now appears in the smithing table GUI; arms are displayed as in Bedrock Edition.
					When an armor stand is placed, its model now changes in effect of the player's facing direction[3].
		23w06a			The model no longer changes when the armory is placed. Also, the head, which tilted slightly to the lower right in the version from 1.8 up to 1.19.3, now faces forward from to .
?					Armor can now be swapped in armor stands by using them in the armor stand's slot.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0		beta 1.2.0.2			Added armor stands.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The texture of armor stands has been changed.
					The texture of armor stand items has been slightly changed.
1.12.0		beta 1.12.0.2			Leather armor no longer shows as being dyed properly when worn by armor stands.
		beta 1.12.0.3			When armor stands hold a raw chicken, raw rabbit, raw salmon, pufferfish or a slime block, they now wear these mob counterparts.[4]
1.13.0		beta 1.13.0.1			Leather armor now shows as being dyed properly when worn by armor stands.
		beta 1.13.0.4			Armor stands no longer hold certain mobs if they are holding a item related to them.
					Armor stands now have a smoother animation when changing poses.
1.16.0		?			Armor stands are now targeted by zoglins.
1.16.210		beta 1.16.210.51			Armor stands are no longer attacked by goats.
Legacy Console Edition
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3	1.0.1	Added armor stands.
TU43	CU33	1.36	Patch 13		Added sounds for armor stands.
TU60	CU51	1.64	Patch 30	1.0.11	Armor stands now have arms and the player can now change the pose of the armor stand.
		1.90			The texture of armor stands has been changed.
					The texture of armor stand items has been slightly changed.

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  The first image of the armor stand.

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  The first image of armor stand crafting recipe.

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  Armor stands in the 1.8 poster.

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  A dual wielding armor stand.

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  Armor stands with the glowing effect.

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  Chess with armor stands.

Issues[]

Issues relating to "Armor Stand" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia[]

• Equipping armor stands with certain blocks and items can cause rendering glitches. According to Searge this is due to transparent rendering on entities not yet being supported.^[5][6]
• Bedrock Edition has a version exclusive armor stand model, which includes posable arms.
• Using redstone to change the stands reverse the poses, starting with the can-can pose first.
• Placing the stand within three powered redstone dust always changes its pose to the honor pose. Repeaters also switch the stand to the honor pose if not set four blocks from one.
• Using external tools, armor stand spawners can be placed.
• Secret signatures for JAPPA, Chi Wong, and Searge can be found at the bottom of the armor stand texture.

Gallery[]

Renders[]

Armor (Java Edition)

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Armor (Bedrock Edition)

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Poses

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Screenshots[]

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  Armor stands in various positions with various armor.

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  Armor stands can wear blocks on their heads. This is accessible with commands such as /item.

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  All armor stand poses as seen in Bedrock Edition.

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  An entire set of netherite armor on an armor stand.

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  An armor stand in a garage.

References[]

External Links[]

• Taking Inventory: Armor Stand – Minecraft.net on March 16, 2023