On each of your turns, you can use a bonus action to mentally command any creature you made with this spell if the creature is within 60 feet of you (if you control multiple creatures, you can command any or all of them at the same time, issuing the same command to each one). You decide what action the creature will take and where it will move during its next turn, or you can issue a general command, such as to guard a particular chamber or corridor. If you issue no commands, the creature only defends itself against hostile creatures. Once given an order, the creature continues to follow it until its task is complete.
I interpreted this paragraph such that I can give my undead(s) the order to "kill a specific enemy" as a bonus action without having to give it the same order again the next turn as if it is a general command. Another player however pointed out that the text specifically distinguish combat and noncombat situation: in combat you should give the undead the order to attack each turn, consequently expending a bonus action each turn to control it, otherwise it will simply defend itself without doing anything else (even if you issued it before the command to kill an enemy).
My master is pretty puzzled, given there is no official rule or reference, but my opinion is that the text is pretty clear and that the order can be also a complex one (involving multiple combat action like attacking) that the undead can carry in combat, provided it has enough INT, and that the order can be issued a single time. If it was not so, the example of issuing an undead to guard a place would not have any sense because simply when the undead encounter an enemy triggering a fight it could not make anything because I am not there to give him the attack order each turn.
What do you think about? Do you know any official rule about it?
The way I read it, it iss not a difference between combat and non-combat, it's a difference between if you control the undead or the DM does. If you want to control the movement and action of a specific undead then you need to be using a bonus action every round but if you want to give the undead a generic command like "Attack that Minotaur", they will go attack the Minotaur but it will be the DM that determines where they move and which specific action they take (tho it'll probably be the attack action).
Animate Dead spell says that:
I interpreted this paragraph such that I can give my undead(s) the order to "kill a specific enemy" as a bonus action without having to give it the same order again the next turn as if it is a general command. Another player however pointed out that the text specifically distinguish combat and noncombat situation: in combat you should give the undead the order to attack each turn, consequently expending a bonus action each turn to control it, otherwise it will simply defend itself without doing anything else (even if you issued it before the command to kill an enemy).
My master is pretty puzzled, given there is no official rule or reference, but my opinion is that the text is pretty clear and that the order can be also a complex one (involving multiple combat action like attacking) that the undead can carry in combat, provided it has enough INT, and that the order can be issued a single time. If it was not so, the example of issuing an undead to guard a place would not have any sense because simply when the undead encounter an enemy triggering a fight it could not make anything because I am not there to give him the attack order each turn.
What do you think about? Do you know any official rule about it?
The way I read it, it iss not a difference between combat and non-combat, it's a difference between if you control the undead or the DM does. If you want to control the movement and action of a specific undead then you need to be using a bonus action every round but if you want to give the undead a generic command like "Attack that Minotaur", they will go attack the Minotaur but it will be the DM that determines where they move and which specific action they take (tho it'll probably be the attack action).
For your question, I think this part is relevant:
So if you command "attack that specific enemy until it's defeated", then I don't think you need to use your Bonus Action every turn.