An armor stand in Minecraft is certainly not as essential for survival as food, tools, metals, and weapons. However, once you’ve figured out the game’s basics, it can become a highly sought-after item for decoration and building automated machines.
Armor stands let you display your best armor and there are tons of ways to customize them. Over the years, Minecraft players have used them to create circles, furniture items, computers, statues, mobs, and whatnot.
Contents:
- Things to get to make an armor stand in Minecraft
- Armor stand crafting recipe in Minecraft
- Armor stand commands in Minecraft
How to build an armor stand in Minecraft
You’ll need the following items to create an armor stand:
- Sticks – Place a log of wood in the crafting menu to turn it into a plank. Then, place two planks of any material vertically on a crafting menu to get a stick.
- Smooth stone slab – Collect stone from the open world. Smelt it in a furnace to create a smooth stone. Place three smooth stones horizontally in the crafting menu to get a smooth stone slab.
In the image below, you’ll find all the recipes required to obtain an armor stand:

Armor stand crafting recipe in Minecraft
Fill the top row of the crafting menu with sticks and place another in the middle slot of the grid. In the bottom row, place two sticks on the edges and put the smooth stone slab in the middle slot to craft an armor stand. The same has been showcased in the image below:

It is important to note that two armor stands spawn naturally in each taiga village’s outdoor armory. One of these armor stands contains an iron helmet which should come in handy for players in the early stages of the game.
Armor stand commands in Minecraft
You can use the following commands to summon and alter armor stands in Minecraft:
- /data merge entity @e[type=armor_stand,sort=nearest,limit=1] {ShowArms:1} – The nearest armor stand changes into an armor stand with arms.
- /summon armor_stand ~ ~ ~ {Rotation:[0.0f]} – Summons a new armor stand facing a direction that depends on the number you enter in place of 0.0f.
- /summon minecraft:armor_stand ~ ~ ~ {ShowArms:1} – Summons a new armor stand with arms.
Because armor stands act like entities in Minecraft, they can be pushed with pistons, bounced with slimes, and pulled with fishing rods. So, even if you’re done decorating your base with stands, there are likely a ton of other tricks you haven’t tried yet.