AbstractThe intensification of coffee plantations has driven biodiversity loss worldwide, but little is known about how it affects the ecological structure of Andean rove beetle communities. The rove beetle diversity was estimated in a coffee‐intensification gradient located on the western slope of Central Andes (1300–1800 m elevation). Sixteen sampling sites in four land uses were selected: four native forest patches and twelve coffee production systems (four polygeneric shade coffee plantations, four monogeneric shade coffee plantations, and four sun‐grown coffee plantations). We used unbaited pitfall traps and leaf litter extraction and recorded environmental and vegetation variables in each land use. 101 staphylinid species were collected in 12 subfamilies and 45 genera (N = 522 individuals). We recorded for the first time the subfamily Leptotyphlinae in Colombia. Anotylus sp. 1 was the most abundant species with about 16% of the total individuals, while 60% of the remaining species showed <2 individuals. Native forest and polygeneric shade coffee plantations were more diverse than monogeneric shade and sun‐grown coffee plantations (for all qD measures). Monogeneric shade coffee plantations were the least diverse in all studies. Species composition was different between forests and coffee plantations, and the sun‐grown coffee had a low number of exclusive species. The rove beetle diversity did not show a linear reduction with the intensification levels of the coffee plantation, and the sun‐grown coffee did not represent an absolutely hostile environment. We discuss the role of staphylinid as model group for comparative ecological studies in the tropical agricultural landscape.