How It Works in Elytra Slot

A new slot appears in your inventory screen, next to your existing armor and equipment slots. This slot accepts only an elytra; ordinary armor, tools, and other items cannot be placed in it.

When an elytra sits in this slot, the game treats it as a worn elytra:

• it deploys when you jump off a height and start gliding,
• it takes durability while you glide, just like a normally-worn elytra,
• it stops working (and you fall) when its durability runs out,
• your chest armor slot is completely independent, so a chestplate there gives full protection at all times.

There is no key to press and no toggle to learn - if an elytra is in the slot, you can glide; if it is not, you cannot.