How to Use an Armor Stand in Minecraft

This Minecraft tutorial explains how to use an armor stand with screenshots and step-by-step instructions.

In Minecraft, you can hang your armor on an armor stand while you are not wearing it. Let's explore how to use an armor stand.

Required Materials

In Minecraft, these are the required materials to use an armor stand:

Items to Place on Armor Stand

In Minecraft, these are the types of items that you can place on an armor stand:

TIP: You can also put enchanted armor as well as dyed leather armor on an armor stand. See our full list of armor that you can craft.

Steps to Use an Armor Stand

1. Place the Armor Stand

Before you can use an armor stand, you will to put it somewhere in your world, for example, in your shelter.

To place the armor stand, first, select the armor stand in the hotbar. If you don't have an armor stand in your inventory, you can quickly make one with a crafting recipe for an armor stand.

Next, position your pointer (the plus sign) on the block where you want the armor stand to appear. You should see the block become highlighted in your game window.

how to use armor stand

The game control to place the armor stand depends on the version of Minecraft:

  • For Java Edition (PC/Mac), right click on the block.
  • For Pocket Edition (PE), you tap on the block.
  • For Xbox 360 and Xbox One, press the LT button on the Xbox controller.
  • For PS3 and PS4, press the L2 button on the PS controller.
  • For Wii U, press the ZL button on the gamepad.
  • For Nintendo Switch, press the ZL button on the controller.
  • For Windows 10 Edition, right click on the block.
  • For Education Edition, right click on the block.

how to use armor stand

You should now see an empty armor stand.

2. Move Items to Armor Stand

Next, you will want to move items from your hot bar to the armor stand. Select the piece of armor that you would like to place on the armor stand in your hot bar. In this example, we are going to put a diamond chestplate on the armor stand.

The game control to place the diamond chestplate on the armor stand depends on the version of Minecraft:

  • For Java Edition (PC/Mac), right click on the armor stand.
  • For Pocket Edition (PE), you tap on the armor stand.
  • For Xbox 360 and Xbox One, press the LT button on the Xbox controller.
  • For PS3 and PS4, press the L2 button on the PS controller.
  • For Wii U, press the ZL button on the gamepad.
  • For Nintendo Switch, press the ZL button on the controller.
  • For Windows 10 Edition, right click on the armor stand.
  • For Education Edition, right click on the armor stand.

how to use armor stand

Now, the diamond chestplate will be removed from your hot bar and will appear hanging on the armor stand.

3. Remove Items from Armor Stand

You can easily take items off of the armor stand and move them back into your hot bar. This part is a bit trickier.

First, position your pointer (the plus sign) on the armor item that you want to remove from the armor stand. In this example, we are pointed at the diamond leggings.

how to use armor stand

The game control to remove the item from the armor stand depends on the version of Minecraft:

  • For Java Edition (PC/Mac), right click on the armor stand.
  • For Pocket Edition (PE), you tap on the armor stand.
  • For Xbox 360 and Xbox One, press the LT button on the Xbox controller.
  • For PS3 and PS4, press the L2 button on the PS controller.
  • For Wii U, press the ZL button on the gamepad.
  • For Nintendo Switch, press the ZL button on the controller.
  • For Windows 10 Edition, right click on the armor stand.
  • For Education Edition, right click on the armor stand.

how to use armor stand

Now the armor will be back in your hotbar and removed from the armor stand. In this example, the diamond leggings have been taken off of the armor stand and placed back in the hotbar. You can individually remove each item from the armor stand.

Congratulations, you just learned how to use an armor stand in Minecraft.