Bash script - for loop and if-else - linux

Question

I am new to Bash scripting and despite multiple attempts to refactor the logic structure shown in pseudocode below I cant get this to work. How do I piece the if/else logic together with a for loop?
Pseudocode:
I have a command that checks if any subfolders exist in a directory of the HDFS filesystem. Lets call this command_A.
If subfolders do NOT exist {
proceed with remaining execution of script
}
Else {
sleep for 30 minutes and run command_A again to see if the subfolders have been removed. Note: This sleep and re-check cycle should repeat up to 4 times and if subfolders are never removed the script is killed with exit 1
}
Sample of What I Have Tried is Below. I can't figure out how I am supposed to use the || in conjunction with the else statement.
Using these structures:
1. for i in {1..4}; do command_A && break || sleep 1800; done
2. if command_A ; then echo "Command succeeded" else echo "Command failed" fi
Test Example:
for i in {1..4};
do
if hdfs dfs -test -e $mypath/*
echo "Folder is empty" && break
else
???
Update showing working solution:
for i in {1..4};
do
if hdfs dfs -test -e $mypath/*;
then
if [ $i -eq 4 ]
then
echo "script exiting now with code 1"
else
echo "Folder is full"
sleep 10
fi
else
echo "Folder is empty"
break
fi
done

Answer 1

UPDATE
This is the working complete code for this particular question, I'll keep the original slightly more generic code below for future reference since it is less complex (less nested if/else) for others searching for similar problems.
for i in {1..4};
do
if hdfs dfs -test -e $mypath/*;
then
if [ $i -eq 4 ]
then
echo "script exiting now with code 1"
else
echo "Folder is full"
sleep 10
fi
else
echo "Folder is empty"
break
fi
done
I think something like this will work, which is pretty much what you have. You just have to put what you're checking for in the if statement and this code should work for you.
for i in {1..4}
do
if [ <check for subdirs> ]
then
echo "Folder is empty!"
break
else
sleep 1800
fi
done

Answer 2

Will this work?
sleep_count=0
max_attempts=4
for ((i=0; i < $max_attempts; i++)); do
if hdfs dfs -test -e $mypath/*; then
echo "No subfolders!"
break
else
# subfolders exist; wait for a while and see if they go away
((sleep_count++))
sleep 1800
fi
done
if [[ $sleep_count == $max_attempts ]]; then
# waited too long for subfolders to go away
exit 1
fi
# probably repeat the above steps again?