Direct answer

Armor stands can incur entity ticking, tracking, equipment updates and plugin work, particularly in animation or hologram systems.

How to check it

  1. Use /paper entity list minecraft:armor_stand on a supported Paper build to count the currently relevant stands.
  2. Profile during the busiest animation or NPC update interval rather than while the lobby is empty.
  3. Compare animated armor stands, static displays and plugin-managed holograms separately; their cost is not identical.

Example: If a lobby uses hundreds of frequently repositioned hologram entities, slowing the animation may help more than removing static, decorative stands on other worlds.

What to change

Slow cosmetic update loops where visually acceptable and remove duplicated hidden stands. Consider display entities only if the relevant plugin and Minecraft version support them and you have tested the migration.

Software and version notes

Do not blindly remove named armor stands; they may be map markers, plugin storage or important gameplay objects. Tracking settings influence network cost differently from entity logic.

Verify the result

Check decorations and interactions from a real client, then compare tick cost and outbound traffic.

References