How To Make An Impossible Circle In Minecraft Using Commands (Java Edition)

In my previous video, I showed you how to make a sphere in Minecraft — it was pretty cool! Using only armor stands and blocks, we managed to create something truly awesome. Today, I’m going to be showing you how to make a circle in Minecraft using armor stands and command blocks. I’m so excited to walk you through this, so let’s get into it!

If you’d prefer to follow along visually, you can watch the full video here: How To Make An Impossible Circle In Minecraft! Command Tutorial Java!

Before You Begin — Java Edition Only

It’s important to note that this tutorial will only work on Java Edition. If you’re playing on Bedrock Edition — which includes Nintendo Switch, iPad, Xbox, and PS4 — unfortunately this will not work for you. This method is exclusive to the PC (Java Edition) version of Minecraft.

Step 1 — Getting Your Command Block

First of all, you’ll need to get yourself a command block. You can do this by typing /give @s command_block into the chat. Once you have it, go ahead and place it down — this is where we’ll start building our circle!

Understanding How This Works

Before we dive into the commands, it’s helpful to understand what’s going on. There are a few types of armor stands involved in this build. The first is a normal armor stand, which you can simply spawn in Minecraft. The second is an armor stand that spawns a block on top of it. The third — and most important — is an armor stand that is invisible and has a block sitting on top of it. This is the main one used throughout the entire command.

The way this all works is by creating a central armor stand in the middle of the circle. That armor stand rotates, and wherever it looks, it spawns a new armor stand with a block on top. This is how we end up tracing out a full circle shape!

Step 2 — Writing the First Command

Now we’re going to create the middle point of the circle. Type the following into your command block:

/execute at @e[name=1] run teleport @e[name=1] ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

What this does is execute the command at the specific entity named “1” and teleport that entity to its own current position. The key part here is the rotation values at the end. If you add a negative value — for example, a -3 — the armor stand will begin to rotate. As it rotates, it will spawn blocks around it, tracing out a circle shape. For now, leave the rotation values as they are and move on to the next step.

Step 3 — Chaining the Command Blocks

Next, you’ll want to set up the second command block so that it runs in sequence with the first. Place a new command block and copy the first one by holding Control and scrolling with the mouse wheel. Then, shift-click until you see the arrow pointing into the new command block. Set this one to Chain mode, and make sure it is also set to Repeat and Always Active. Please also ensure it is set to Unconditional, as it doesn’t need to meet any conditions to run.

Step 4 — Writing the Second Command

This command is where it gets a little more complex! I’ve written this out carefully because it can be tricky to type while explaining, and I’ll also be leaving it in the video description to help you out. Type the following into the second command block:

/execute at @e[name=1] run summon armor_stand ~ ~ ~3 {NoGravity:1b,ArmorItems:[{},{},{},{id:"minecraft:iron_block",Count:1b}],Invisible:1b}

What this does is summon an armor stand exactly three blocks away from the central armor stand (the one named “1”). The NoGravity tag ensures it stays in place, the ArmorItems section defines what the armor stand is wearing — in this case, an iron block placed on the head slot — and the Invisible tag makes the stand itself invisible so only the block is visible. Please make sure you include all the commas between tags and keep the capitalisation exactly as shown, including the N, G, A, and I in the NBT tags.

Step 5 — Naming Your Armor Stand

Now you’ll need an anvil and a name tag. Simply name the tag whatever you used in the command — in this case, that’s 1. Apply the name tag to an armor stand and place it near the command blocks. Once this is done and the commands are running, you’ll see the armor stand begin to spawn iron blocks in a circular pattern around it. It’s already looking amazing at this point!

If at any point you need to clear all the armor stands, simply type /kill @e[type=armor_stand] into the chat and they’ll all be removed instantly.

Step 6 — Making the Circle Look Smooth

To make all the spawned armor stands rotate inward for a really clean, smooth-looking circle, we need one more command. This is a really cool teleport command — type the following into a new command block with a button attached:

/execute as @e[name=1,type=minecraft:armor_stand] run tp @s ~ ~ ~ facing entity UnderMyCap

Note: replace UnderMyCap with your own Minecraft username. When you first enter this command it may show red, but don’t worry — it will still be accepted. Once you click the button, all of the armor stands will rotate inward, giving the circle that beautiful, smooth and complete appearance. And just like that — you have a perfect circle in Minecraft!

Performance Tips

For this video, I used Fabric along with the Sodium mod, which does a fantastic job of optimising Minecraft’s performance. Even with shaders running and this circle build active, I was getting around 200 frames per second — which is seriously impressive! If you’re finding that things are lagging while building this, I’d definitely recommend giving Sodium a try.

The Result

And there you have it — an actual, working circle built in Minecraft using armor stands and command blocks! It looks incredible and is a really satisfying build to complete. I hope you found this tutorial helpful and that your circle turned out just as good as mine. If you enjoyed this, please don’t forget to like the video and subscribe — I can’t wait to see you in the next one!