Minecraft Villager Trades: The Ultimate Guide

Introduction

Minecraft, with its vast landscapes and endless possibilities, allows players to build, explore, and survive. One of the most crucial aspects of the game, often overlooked by new players, is the strategic use of villager trades. These trades provide access to essential resources, powerful enchantments, and a reliable source of materials that can vastly accelerate your progress. The ability to efficiently utilize the villagers and their trading system can transform your experience, making difficult tasks more manageable and allowing you to quickly gain access to powerful equipment and items.

This guide will delve into the intricacies of villager trades, offering a comprehensive overview. We’ll explore the different types of villagers, their professions, and the best trading opportunities. The information provided here will equip you with the knowledge and strategies necessary to maximize your profits, obtain the items you desire, and build a prosperous base fueled by the power of villager interaction. Whether you are a new player looking to get started or a seasoned veteran seeking to refine your strategies, this guide has something to offer, detailing everything you need to know about villager trades in Minecraft.

Understanding Villager Types and Professions

The foundation of any successful trading operation lies in understanding the various types of villagers and their roles within the Minecraft ecosystem. Each villager has a distinct purpose, and knowing the differences is key to finding the perfect trades.

Villagers are generally divided into two broad categories: unemployed and employed. Unemployed villagers have no specific job assigned to them and are more flexible. Employed villagers, on the other hand, are associated with a specific profession and offer trades related to their expertise. A villager’s profession is determined by the workstation block located nearby.

There are various types of villagers, with some of them being more beneficial than others. These are:

Unemployed Villagers

These villagers do not have jobs. When you place down a work station nearby, an unemployed villager will take up the job, assuming that the villager is not busy.

Profession-Specific Villagers

These are villagers that have jobs, allowing them to offer trades to you. These villagers also have a work station that they require to be able to do their trades.

Nitwit Villagers

These villagers do not have jobs. However, they also cannot get jobs, and therefore can never offer trades. These villagers wear green clothing and don’t have any real use to you.

Baby Villagers

These villagers cannot offer trades as they are still children. These will have to grow up before they are able to be of use to you.

Understanding the types of villagers is only the beginning. Now, let’s examine the specific professions that villagers can take:

Work Stations and Professions

Farmer: This profession is associated with the Composter block. Farmers are the primary source of food resources. They offer trades for crops, seeds, and food items.
Fisherman: The Fisherman is associated with the Barrel block. Fishermen primarily trade fishing-related items, such as fishing rods, raw fish, and cooked fish.
Shepherd: This profession utilizes the Loom block. Shepherds trade items like wool, beds, and paintings. They are an excellent source of colored wool, which can be quite useful.
Fletcher: A Fletcher is associated with the Fletching Table block. This villager deals with ranged combat-related items, such as arrows, bows, and sometimes enchanted bows.
Librarian: Librarians are perhaps some of the most sought-after traders, utilizing the Lectern block. They trade enchanted books, bookshelves, and other book-related items. This is the gateway to getting top-tier enchantments without having to rely on chance.
Cleric: Clerics make use of the Brewing Stand block. They offer trades for potion ingredients, such as eyes of ender and ghast tears, and can also sell experience bottles.
Armorer: Armorers use the Blast Furnace block. They trade in armor pieces, including diamond and netherite armor, as well as the materials needed to craft them.
Weaponsmith: The Weaponsmith uses the Grindstone block. They trade weapons, such as diamond swords and axes, as well as materials for crafting these weapons.
Toolsmith: Toolsmit’s workstation is the Smithing Table block. They trade tools, such as diamond pickaxes, shovels, and axes.
Butcher: Butchers make use of the Smoker block. They primarily trade for food items, like cooked meat.
Cartographer: This villager type uses the Cartography Table block. They trade for maps, explorer maps, and sometimes even banners.

These professions are essential to understand as the work station available will dictate which villager will take up the job.

How to Find and Interact with Villagers

Knowing where to find villagers and how to interact with them is the next step in mastering the villager trades system. This includes understanding the various locations where villagers can be found, and how to start trading with them.

Villagers primarily live in villages, which are structures that spawn naturally in the world. Villages can be found in various biomes, with their appearance and layout depending on the biome they are in. Another place to find villagers are Pillager outposts, which can contain unemployed villagers.

You can also find villagers, as villagers can sometimes be found in wandering trader’s homes. They will not be able to trade here though.

Finding Villages

Exploration: The most common method is exploring your Minecraft world and looking for villages. Pay attention to the terrain and common village biomes, as this will make it easier.
Chunkbase: The best way to find a village is by using Chunkbase, as this allows you to find villages easily. Simply type in your world seed, and search for villages.

Trading with Villagers

Once you’ve located a village and found the villagers, you can begin interacting with them. To start a trade, simply right-click a villager. This will open the trading interface, which will display the various trades offered by the villager.

Each villager has a limited number of trades available, which are categorized into tiers. As you trade with a villager, they will gain experience and level up. Leveling up a villager unlocks new trades and often improves the prices of existing ones. This is why it is important to always work with the same villager.

Building a Trading Hall

While not strictly necessary, building a dedicated trading hall significantly improves the efficiency and organization of your trading operations. A well-designed trading hall keeps villagers secure, prevents them from despawning, and makes it easier to access their trades.

Secure Environment: Ensure that the trading hall is well-lit and secure to prevent hostile mobs from harming the villagers.
Individual Stations: Each villager should have their own trading station, including their workstation block to ensure the villagers are able to restock.
Efficient Layout: Design the hall in a way that minimizes travel time and makes it easy to find and interact with specific villagers.
Prevention of Despawning: Use name tags, or keep the villagers in a secure area, to prevent them from despawning.

Specific Villager Trades (Detailed Breakdown)

Now, let’s dive into the specifics. Below are the main professions, alongside a breakdown of the trades.

Farmer

Apprentice: Sells a few crops for emeralds, buys wheat and potatoes for emeralds.
Journeyman: Sells bread and pumpkin pie, buys wheat for emeralds, buys potatoes and carrots for emeralds.
Expert: Sells cake and emeralds for emeralds, buys emeralds for emeralds, buys pumpkins, carrots and potatoes for emeralds.
Master: Sells golden carrots for emeralds.

Fisherman

Apprentice: Sells cooked cod and raw cod for emeralds, buys string and fishing rods for emeralds.
Journeyman: Sells cooked salmon and emeralds for emeralds, buys emeralds for emeralds.
Expert: Sells a fishing rod and emeralds for emeralds, buys pufferfish for emeralds.
Master: Sells a treasure enchanted fishing rod and emeralds.

Shepherd

Apprentice: Sells and buys wool for emeralds, buys dyes for emeralds, sells beds for emeralds.
Journeyman: Sells colored wool for emeralds, buys string for emeralds.
Expert: Sells banners for emeralds, buys emeralds for emeralds.
Master: Sells banners and emeralds.

Fletcher

Apprentice: Buys sticks and flint for emeralds. Sells arrows for emeralds.
Journeyman: Buys feathers for emeralds. Sells bows and emeralds for emeralds.
Expert: Sells tipped arrows and emeralds.
Master: Sells arrows for emeralds.

Librarian

Apprentice: Sells bookshelves for emeralds, buys paper for emeralds, buys books for emeralds.
Journeyman: Sells enchanted books and emeralds for emeralds.
Expert: Sells enchanted books and emeralds.
Master: Sells enchanted books and emeralds.

Cleric

Apprentice: Sells bottles of enchanting, buys rotten flesh for emeralds.
Journeyman: Sells eyes of ender and emeralds.
Expert: Sells experience bottles and emeralds.
Master: Sells diamond armor for emeralds.

Armorer

Apprentice: Buys coal for emeralds, sells chainmail armor for emeralds.
Journeyman: Sells iron armor for emeralds, buys iron ingots for emeralds.
Expert: Sells diamond armor for emeralds, buys emeralds for emeralds.
Master: Sells netherite armor for emeralds.

Weaponsmith

Apprentice: Sells iron swords for emeralds, buys coal for emeralds.
Journeyman: Sells diamond axes and swords for emeralds, buys iron ingots for emeralds.
Expert: Sells enchanted swords and emeralds for emeralds.
Master: Sells enchanted swords and emeralds.

Toolsmith

Apprentice: Buys coal for emeralds, sells iron tools for emeralds.
Journeyman: Sells diamond pickaxes, axes, shovels for emeralds.
Expert: Sells enchanted tools.
Master: Sells enchanted tools.

Butcher

Apprentice: Buys raw chicken for emeralds, sells cooked chicken for emeralds, sells rabbit stew for emeralds.
Journeyman: Sells cooked porkchop, cooked beef and emeralds for emeralds.
Expert: Sells steak for emeralds, buys emeralds for emeralds.
Master: Sells steak for emeralds.

Cartographer

Apprentice: Sells empty maps for emeralds, buys paper for emeralds.
Journeyman: Sells explorer maps.
Expert: Sells maps, and banner for emeralds.
Master: Sells explorer maps and banner.

Maximizing Villager Trades

There are several methods you can use to maximize your profits. Understanding the mechanics and manipulating the trades will give you an edge.

Curing Zombie Villagers

Curing zombie villagers is one of the most powerful techniques to drastically reduce trade prices, resulting in significant savings and increased profits.

The Curing Process: A Step-by-Step Guide

The process itself involves converting a zombie villager back into a regular villager. This process can be repeated to get multiple villagers to have low prices for their trades. Here is how to do it:

Locate a Zombie Villager: Start by finding a zombie villager. These mobs commonly spawn in villages and are easily recognized by their green skin and zombie-like appearance.
Trap the Zombie Villager: Trap the zombie villager in a secure location, such as a room or enclosed area. You want to keep the zombie villager trapped, so it is crucial to ensure that it cannot escape.
Prepare for the Cure: The curing process involves a weakness potion and a golden apple. The weakness potion will make the villager vulnerable, and the golden apple will begin the curing process.
Administer the Weakness Potion: Throw a splash potion of weakness at the zombie villager. This will temporarily make the villager weaker, preparing them for the next step.
Feeding the Zombie Villager with Golden Apples: Give the zombie villager a golden apple. The villager will start to shake, indicating that the curing process has begun.
Waiting and Witnessing the Transformation: The curing process takes approximately 5 minutes. During this time, the zombie villager will transform into a regular villager.
Protect Your Villager: After the transformation, protect your cured villager. Provide a secure environment for them to keep them safe.

Village Prices and Economics

Trade prices are influenced by several factors. The most important factor is supply and demand.

Supply and Demand: Trading with a villager repeatedly will cause the prices to go up, until the villager will reset the trades. Similarly, if you stop trading with a villager, the prices will go down.
Leveling Up: As the villager levels up, more trades will become available and may come with cheaper prices.
Curing: Curing zombie villagers will always result in lower prices.

Tips and Tricks

General Trading Tips: Look for trades that give a high value for a low cost, or that provide unique items that cannot be obtained elsewhere.
Protecting Your Villagers: Surround them with walls, use lighting to prevent mob spawns, and ensure they are not exposed to danger.
Handling Multiple Villagers: Keep them separate to prevent accidental harm and make it easier to manage trades.
Building on a Server: Building a trading hall and finding villagers can be extremely profitable, but sometimes, players on a server can raid your villagers, so you will have to make sure your villagers are safe, so they cannot be traded with by others.
Make use of your resources: Villagers are a massive asset in Minecraft, and they can provide you with almost any resources.

Conclusion

Mastering villager trades is a critical skill for any player looking to thrive in Minecraft. By understanding the various types of villagers, their professions, and the strategies to maximize profits, you can transform your game experience. From gaining access to rare enchantments to creating a steady supply of essential resources, villager trading offers unmatched advantages.

With this guide, you now have the knowledge to optimize your trading and unlock the full potential of your Minecraft world. Take the time to explore the different trade options, experiment with different setups, and build a trading operation that fits your play style.

(Optional) FAQs

How do I get a specific trade?

The trades offered by a villager are determined by their profession and level. You can influence this by ensuring they have their work station block.

Can I breed villagers?

Yes. Villagers can breed under the right conditions (beds, food, etc.).

How do villager prices change?

Prices fluctuate based on supply and demand, leveling, and other factors. Curing zombie villagers provides the lowest prices.

Resources

Minecraft Wiki: [https://minecraft.wiki/w/Trading](https://minecraft.wiki/w/Trading)