Swing your own arm
/swingPlays the swing animation on you, with the main hand.
/swing command in Minecraft
/swing plays the arm swing animation on living entities, with the main hand or the off hand. Without arguments it applies to you. It gives cutscenes, NPCs and machinima a little life, and it does not deal any damage on its own.
Syntax
/swing [<targets> [mainhand|offhand]]| Argument | Expects | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| targetsoptional | Entity selectorone or several | Entities that swing: @s, @a or @e[type=minecraft:zombie]. Only living entities react. Defaults to you. |
| animationoptional | Animation | Type of swing animation, checked by the game. An unknown value is rejected with an error. |
| durationoptional | Duration (ticks, or 10s, 2d)at least 1 | Length of the animation, at least one tick, written like 10t, 1s or 1d. |
All 8 forms
- /swing
- /swing <targets>
- /swing <targets> mainhand
- /swing <targets> mainhand <animation>
- /swing <targets> mainhand <animation> <duration>
- /swing <targets> offhand
- /swing <targets> offhand <animation>
- /swing <targets> offhand <animation> <duration>
Examples
Nearby zombies swing together
/swing @e[type=minecraft:zombie,distance=..10] mainhandEvery Zombie within 10 blocks swings its main arm at once.
Swing with the off hand
/swing @s offhandPlays the animation with your off hand instead of the main hand.
Build your commandFill in the fields, then copy the command.
Command generatorWhat the syntax allows
targets accepts any selector, but only living entities swing; otherwise the game answers "No living entities were found to swing". After the targets, mainhand or offhand picks the arm. Two optional arguments follow: animation, a swing animation type checked by the game ("Unknown swing animation type: x" for a wrong value), and duration, a time of at least one tick, written with t, s or d.
Uses
Turn a Villager first with /rotate, then make it swing, or spawn an actor with /summon. To actually hurt something, use /damage.
✓ Checked in Java Edition 26.3 · updated 2 November 2026
/swing: FAQ
Does /swing hit the entity in front?
No. It only plays the arm animation. Use /damage to deal damage.
Why does /swing say no living entities were found?
The selector only matched entities that cannot swing, such as boats or dropped items. Target players or mobs instead.
How do I use /swing?
Type it in the chat with cheats on: /swing [<targets> [mainhand|offhand]].
Who can use /swing?
Cheats on, or operator level 2.
Since when does /swing exist?
It is in the official command tree since Java Edition 26.1.