Can flying creatures stay in one place while airborne, even if they don't have hover in their flying speed?

Question

Some creatures have a fly speed. Some creatures with a fly speed also have the ability to hover specified.

The PHB, in Chapter 9: Combat, Movement and Position, Flying Movement says:

Flying creatures enjoy many benefits of mobility, but they must also deal with the danger of falling. If a flying creature is knocked prone, has its speed reduced to 0, or is otherwise deprived of the ability to move, the creature falls, unless it has the ability to hover or it is being held aloft by magic, such as by the fly spell.

The conditions in this paragraph that would result in the creature falling have to do with having movement involuntarily removed or restricted. That might suggest that if you don't have "hover" in your flying speed, you can't hover.

But there is a difference between being knocked unconscious, or frozen, or webbed, or otherwise rendered unable to move, and choosing to stay in one place while airborne, by flapping your wings, or standing on your jets, or whatever.

So, can flying creatures choose to stay in one place while airborne, even if they don't have hover in their flying speed?

Answer 1

Flying creatures can remain aloft unless their rules says otherwise

The 2019 Sage Advice Compendium contains the following paragraph which directly addresses this situation:

Can a flying creature without the hover trait stay in one place while airborne, or does it need to move each round? A flyer that lacks the hover trait can stay aloft without moving each round.

From the Flying Movement section under Movement and Position (PHB, p. 191) we have (emphasis mine):

Flying creatures enjoy many benefits of mobility, but they must also deal with the danger of falling. If a flying creature is knocked prone, has its speed reduced to 0, or is otherwise deprived of the ability to move, the creature falls, unless it has the ability to hover or it is being held aloft by magic, such as by the fly spell.

Possessing the 'hover' ability prevents a creature from falling when knocked prone or deprived of movement, but otherwise has no effect on where the creature may end its turn. By default creatures that possess a fly speed may end their turn in the air. However, doing so without the 'hover' ability exposes them to falling damage should an enemy somehow deprive them of movement.

Some creatures or abilities may limit your flying ability and require you to land at the end of your turn. See Do I have to land at the end of my turn? for evidence that this is not the general case. One example of a feature with this restriction is the level 14 Path of the Totem Warrior (Eagle) feature which says (emphasis mine):

While raging, you have a flying speed equal to your current walking speed. This benefit works only in short bursts; you fall if you end your turn in the air and nothing else is holding you aloft.

If the feature allowing you to fly does not possess text to a similar effect, you can end your turn in the air or remain stationary while aloft. Having the 'hover' ability merely negates the risk of falling.

Answer 2

A creature with a Flying Speed is not required to use their movement to stay aloft unless a feature specifically says so

It might be best to demonstrate this by showing an obvious counter-example.

Consider, for example, the Totem Warrior subclass of the Barbarian Class, who at level 14, is given the option of gaining a flight speed while raging:

Eagle. While raging, you have a flying speed equal to your current walking speed. This benefit works only in short bursts; you fall if you end your turn in the air and nothing else is holding you aloft.

—Path of the Totem Warrior, Player's Handbook, pg. 50

So for this specific situation, the Barbarian would gain a flying speed—but also gain the stipulation that this speed cannot keep them aloft at the end of their turn.

Conversely, most creatures that have Flying speeds have no such restriction or stipulation: they simply specify a Flying speed of X', without this kind of text. That means that they would not fall if they stop moving, or if they cease to move during their turn, unless they were subjected to one of the conditions specified in your original post and lacked the Hover feature.

Answer 3

You say in your question:

The conditions in this paragraph that would result in the creature falling have to do with having movement involuntarily removed or restricted. That might suggest that if you don't have "hover" in your flying speed, you can't hover.

This suggests that if you don't have "hover" in your flying speed, you will fall when your movement is involuntarily removed or restricted. It makes no suggestions on what will happen if you voluntarily don't move.

The conditions given (speed 0, prone, deprived of movement) are given without ambiguity, so can be considered a complete list of what would make a flying creature fall. As such, every creature with a fly speed can choose not to move on their turn and stay aloft (because doing so is not on the list of conditions that would cause a fall).

Answer 4

Yes. All it requires to stay in the air without falling is to have a nonzero flying speed.

If you choose not to move, you still have a nonzero movement speed. Flying speed is a character attribute that says how fast you can fly, not a measure of how fast the character currently is flying.

Answer 5

As explained in the description of flying speeds in the introduction of the Monster Manual (and the corresponding part of the basic rules):

A monster that has a flying speed can use all or part of its movement to fly. Some monsters have the ability to hover, which makes them hard to knock out of the air (as explained in the rules on flying in the Player’s Handbook). Such a monster stops hovering when it dies.

(The emphasis here is on can.)

The one thing that is so great about the newest 5th edition of D&D is that it is very clear about if and when [x] happens. The standard being that something just works unless the source of the feature/ability specifically says otherwise. Like standing upright or staying aloft. This is why the system gives us additional rules for when things change. Like the one on "Flying Creatures and Falling" (XGtE, p. 77), which states that:

A flying creature in flight falls if it is knocked prone, if its speed is reduced to 0 feet, or if it otherwise loses the ability to move, unless it can hover or it is being held aloft by magic, such as the fly spell.

A creature that has access to the flying movement mode "can use all or part of its movement to fly." Nowhere does it ever state that a creature has to take at least part of its movement to stay in the movement mode it currently is using. It's like a landborne creature doesn't have to take at least part of its movement to stay upright and not fall prone all of a sudden. Well... I guess you could argue that: "but if you fall to zero speed you still not necessarily fall prone." True that, but there is a rule for when a creature falls prone. It's conveniently named after the condition.