Villager Trading Guide: Best Trades & Discounts
Trading is the strongest economy in Minecraft: it turns farms you already have into emeralds, and emeralds into diamond gear, Mending books and Ender pearls — no mining required. This guide covers every profession, the trades worth your time, and the discount tricks that make everything cost 1 emerald.
Why trading beats grinding
- Diamond gear without diamonds: armorers and toolsmiths sell diamond equipment for emeralds — each purchase is diamonds you didn't have to mine.
- Mending without fishing: a librarian with the right book is the most reliable Mending source in the game.
- Renewable everything: every trade restocks, twice per in-game day, forever.
- It scales: one villager hall with 10+ professions turns mid-game surplus into end-game inventory.
Profession cheat sheet
A villager's profession is set by their job block — place the block to hire, break it to fire. Unemployed villagers (no clothes badge) will take any job within reach.
| Profession | Job block | Buys | Sells (highlights) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Librarian | Lectern | Paper, books | Enchanted books (Mending!) |
| Armorer | Blast furnace | Iron ingots | Iron & diamond armor pieces |
| Toolsmith | Smithing table | Coal, iron, flint | Diamond tools |
| Weaponsmith | Grindstone | Coal, iron | Diamond swords & axes |
| Farmer | Composter | Wheat, carrots, potatoes, beetroot | Bread, pie, apples |
| Fletcher | Fletching table | Sticks, string, feathers | Arrows, bows, tipped arrows |
| Cleric | Brewing stand | Rotten flesh, gold ingots | Redstone, lapis, Ender pearls (master), glowstone |
| Mason | Stonecutter | Clay balls, stone | Terracotta, polished blocks, quartz |
| Cartographer | Cartography table | Paper | Explorer maps (mansions, monuments) |
| Shepherd | Loom | Wool, dyes | Colored wool, beds, banners |
| Fisherman / Butcher / Leatherworker | Barrel / Smoker / Cauldron | Raw fish / raw meat / leather | Cooked food, emeralds, horse armor |
The best trades, tier by tier
| Tier | Trade | Why it's good |
|---|---|---|
| S | Librarian Mending book | Best enchantment in the game, farmable forever via rerolling (see below) |
| S | Fletcher 32 sticks → 1 emerald | Sticks are nearly free; this is the classic emerald engine |
| A | Armorer diamond armor | Costs roughly 8–20 emeralds per piece depending on rank — a full kit for a few stacks |
| A | Librarian other god books (Sharpness V, Protection IV, Mending-adjacent) | Each librarian sells one specific book; build a hall of them |
| A | Cleric Ender pearls (master) | ~5 emeralds each — no Enderman hunting before the dragon |
| B | Farmer crop purchases | Perfect sink for an automated wheat/carrot farm |
| B | Cartographer explorer maps | Fastest route to woodland mansions and ocean monuments |
| C | Toolsmith/Weaponsmith diamond tools | Good early, but you'll outgrow them once you mine your own diamonds |
Emerald income, early game
Before you have big farms, these three loops fund everything:
- Sticks → Fletcher: punch a tree, craft sticks, sell 32 per emerald. 5 minutes of woodwork = a few emeralds; a bamboo farm makes it infinite.
- Crops → Farmer: harvest a village's fields (or plant your own) and sell the surplus. Wheat, carrots and potatoes all work.
- Rotten flesh → Cleric: zombie farms dump endless flesh here. Free emeralds from a mob you were killing anyway.
The Mending lectern reroll
Every librarian sells one specific enchanted book, decided when they take the lectern. You can reroll that decision:
- Trap an unemployed villager in a 1×1 cell (or a proper trading hall slot).
- Place a lectern next to them → they become a librarian.
- Open their trade screen and look at the enchanted book offer.
- Not Mending? Break the lectern and place it again — the book offer rerolls.
- Repeat until the offer is Mending (or Sharpness V, Protection IV, etc.).
- Trade once to lock the offer permanently, then level them up by trading.
Mending books typically cost somewhere between ~10 and ~40 emeralds depending on luck and discounts. With a cured discount they can drop to a handful of emeralds.
Discounts: curing & Hero of the Village
| Method | Effect | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Zombie villager curing | Permanent massive discount on everything they sell — many trades hit the 1-emerald floor | Forever |
| Hero of the Village (win a raid) | Percent discount that scales with raid difficulty (I–V) | Temporary (~in-game days) |
| Trading lots (reputation) | Small "minor positive" discount | Long-lasting |
Concrete effect of curing one zombie villager (stacks each time you re-cure the same villager):
| Trade | Normal price | After 1 cure | After 2 cures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Librarian Mending book | 12–18 emeralds | 1–5 | 1 |
| Armorer diamond chestplate | 10–20 emeralds | 2–8 | 1–4 |
| Cleric Ender pearl (master) | ~5 emeralds | 1–3 | 1 |
Curing drops most trades toward the 1-emerald floor and the discount is permanent on that villager. Two cures on a single librarian is the standard end-game money-saver.
How to cure a zombie villager
- Let a zombie villager survive an attack (zombies sometimes spawn as villagers — keep it safe, and it won't despawn).
- Splash it with a Potion of Weakness (see our Potion Brewing Guide).
- Feed it a golden apple and wait 3–5 minutes while it shivers.
- It converts back to a villager — now give it a job block and enjoy the discount.
Cure the same villager more than once and the discounts keep stacking. One cured librarian selling Mending at 1–5 emeralds is the classic end-game setup.
Common mistakes
- Trading before checking the book: one trade locks a librarian's offer forever. Always inspect the enchanted book before the first purchase.
- Buying emeralds with diamonds: never trade diamonds to toolsmiths — that's selling your end-game gear for pocket change.
- Bulk-selling without restocks: over-trading one item raises its price (demand). Rotate between trades or wait a day.
- Leaving job blocks scattered: villagers grab whatever block is nearest. In a trading hall, place each workstation after the villager is in their stall.
- Iron farms too close: keep your trading hall 64+ blocks from iron farm villagers or both break (see our Iron Farm Guide).
FAQ
Do trades get more expensive forever?
No — demand inflation resets. If a trade gets pricey, stop using it for a day or two and it recovers.
Do cured discounts stack with Hero of the Village?
Yes, and they apply on top of each other. Cured villagers are the foundation; Hero just makes shopping sprees even cheaper.
Can I move villagers to my base safely?
Yes — boats (even uphill, slowly) or minecarts through covered tunnels. Nether portals + boats also work for long distances.
Do wandering traders count?
Their trades are poor and don't restock usefully. Treat them as decoration unless you need a specific sapling.