This paper presents a state feedback controller (SFC) for position control of PMSM servo-drive. Firstly, a short review of the commonly used swarm-based optimization algorithms for tuning of SFC is presented. Then designing process of current control loop as well as of SFC with feedforward path is depicted. Next, coefficients of controller are tuned by using an artificial bee colony (ABC) optimization algorithm. Three of the most commonly applied tuning methods (i.e. linear-quadratic optimization, pole placement technique and direct selection of coefficients) are used and investigated in terms of positioning performance, disturbance compensation and robustness against plant parameter changes. Simulation analysis is supported by experimental tests conducted on laboratory stand with modern PMSM servo-drive.