[1.11 Guide] Making an Armorstand storage/launcher

Discussion in 'Player Guides, Tips and Tricks' started by ShelLuser, Nov 15, 2016.

  1. Hi gang!

    If you're active in the Frontier then you might want to add some nice extra's now that we got anti-grief block protection. For example an armor stand to show off your cool gear. Unfortunately though armor stands are cool and all, but a little tricky. And not quite safe from abuse. I won't go into details, but there are some ways to force the armor stand to drop its items. These have been mostly fixed in town, but I'm not too sure about the Frontier (and waste too obviously).

    So what to do if you like using these, maybe only keep 'm indoors? Naah, what you need is Shell's redstone armor stand storage!

    Click the button and it'll retract, click it again and it'll pop out again!

    Some players have asked me about such a design a few times in the past and this evening I figured I'd try to solve that puzzle. Thanks to the new observer block this is actually pretty easy to make. Click the button and it'll retract, click again and it'll appear again. Now, as you can see in the topic my thread is a guide. That's right: I'm not simply going to show off with something which I made (/designed), I'm also going to teach you guys how to make this yourself.


    This is all you need (the top inventory, you don't need mob spawners fortunately :D), but keep in mind that this doesn't include any (optional) building materials. Basically you're going to dig a hole, and use the materials you get from it. But if you plan on making this a secure structure in the wilderness then I suggest that you also get yourself 1 or 2 stacks of uncommon blocks (maybe some polished diorite or granite) so that you can build a secured wall around it.

    Step 1


    Dig a 4 x 3 hole, 3 blocks deep, and place the 3 sticky pistons as shown. So one facing up with a block on top and 2 on the side facing towards the first piston and the block.

    Step 2


    Place the 2 redstone torches (I prefer placing the one in front first, then in the background) so that all pistons extent. Rule of thumb: the top block should now be on the same level as your floor is.

    Step 3


    Dig out the wall a bit, place the repeater so that it faces into the block with the redstone torch and set it to 4 ticks (right click the repeater 2 times). Then place the 5 redstone dust as shown.

    At this point you already got yourself a bit of a hidden trapdoor. If you place a button above the "torch extension" (so above the block in the foreground with the torch) and press it then you'll notice that the block will go down, and then both the block and the piston get moved aside. Then, after a few seconds, they're placed back.

    So if you dig a tunnel under the single piston and add water (or a slimeblock) at the bottom then you got yourself a hidden chute where players can safely drop down into. Maybe to a secret base? But... No secret bases now, we're making a (secret?) secure armorstand storage.

    Step 4


    Dig a 4 x 1 hole down (7 blocks deep) and place the observer blocks as shown. Be sure to check the arrows: you need to be below the observer before you place it (so the 'face' needs to go up, and the redstone output needs to face down).

    Step 5


    At the bottom make a 1 x 1 hole / chute leading all the way up to the piston in the middle (the one with the block on top), then place the last sticky piston with the slime block on top as shown. Then place the armor stand on top of that.

    Step 6


    Place a block next to the piston and then place a repeater between the block and the bottom of the "observer chain". Set this repeater to 2 ticks (right click it once).

    Step 6b


    Clear all blocks around the slimeblock, and do this 2 blocks high (because the slime block will be pushed up by the piston). The reason for this clearance is to make sure that the slime block doesn't attach itself to any surrounding blocks. If it does then it'll try to move those blocks as well, and if there are too many (or if they can't move) then the piston will simply refuse to extend.

    At this point you're pretty much done!

    Before...

    And after I pushed the button.

    I personally prefer to use a different block than one which blends in with the floor so that you can always see where your armorstand is going to end up. At this time you can easily cover the whole thing up because there are no redstone (dust) circuits which are at risk of getting blocked.

    However, do keep in mind that one "floor block" next to the armor stand will always be highly charged because of the torch below it. Normally this shouldn't matter, but if you're building this next to other contraptions then you need to keep it in mind:

    The final design: I used a boneblock to indicate where the armor stand is going to be.

    And there you have it. 6 (and a half ;)) simple steps to make your own secured armorstand storage.

    If some of you guys are going to make this then I'd love to hear back from you! :)
    Evesthery and DarkModFallen like this.
  2. As always a well written piece. Thanks for your time sir.
    ShelLuser likes this.
  3. Eyyy! You fixed the elevator incident. :p
    ShelLuser likes this.
  4. this actually works 4 me! ^.^

    maybe tip if u need 2 get out the hole then u can use dirt in the corner



    dont need the 2 obby i think?
  5. That's not needed, it was a left over from my first design where I used obsidian to prevent the armor stand from dropping on the ground.

    That's the only caveat of this design: the armor stand will slightly move a bit and won't be directly positioned on the block but a tiny bit over the edge. Nothing too serious, but yeah :)