Minecraft Villager Trades: A Complete Guide to Trading for Emeralds and Valuable Items

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In the vast world of Minecraft, villagers play a crucial role in your adventure. These non-playable characters (NPCs) offer various trades that can save you time, resources, and effort. Whether you need enchanted gear, food, rare items, or materials, villagers are here to help—if you know how to trade effectively.

This guide will provide an in-depth look at the most common villager trades, the items you can give to villagers for emeralds, and the items you can receive for emeralds in return. We'll cover the different professions, trade mechanics, and even some tips on optimizing your trades.

Understanding Villagers and Their Professions

Villagers come in different professions, each with a unique set of trades. The workstation determines the profession of a villager they are assigned to, such as:

Farmer: Composter

Librarian: Lectern

Cleric: Brewing Stand

Armorer: Blast Furnace

Toolsmith: Smithing Table

Weaponsmith: Smithing Table

Fletcher: Fletching Table

Butcher: Smoker

Mason: Stonecutter

Leatherworker: Cauldron

Cartographer: Cartography Table

Each profession offers different items in exchange for emeralds or other resources. Villagers have trade levels that unlock better items as they are traded with.

Most Common Villager Trades

Here’s a breakdown of the most common trades you’ll encounter, categorized by profession.

1. Farmer

Farmers are some of the most useful villagers because they offer valuable food resources and trade items that are essential for survival.

Novice: Trade: Bread (for emeralds), Trade: Carrots, Potatoes, or Wheat (for emeralds)

Journeyman: Trade: Emeralds for Pumpkin Pie, Trade: Emeralds for Cookies

Master: Trade: Emeralds for Golden Carrots (for high-end food)

Farmers are often in demand because they provide food items and crops that can help you in the early stages of the game. Also, the food they offer is often useful for breeding animals and restoring health.

2. Librarian

Librarians are perhaps the most important villager when it comes to acquiring enchantments for your gear. They offer books, enchanted books, and more.

Novice: Trade: Books for emeralds

Journeyman: Trade: Enchanted Books (e.g., Sharpness, Protection)

Master: Trade: Rare enchantments like Mending, Unbreaking, or Silk Touch

Librarians can give you a steady supply of enchanted books. The ability to get enchanted gear without having to enchant it yourself is incredibly valuable.

3. Cleric

Clerics are excellent villagers to trade with for magical and rare items, such as ender pearls, potions, and experience.

Novice: Trade: Rotten Flesh for emeralds

Journeyman: Trade: Emeralds for Glowstone Dust or Redstone, Trade: Ender Pearls for emeralds

Master: Trade: Emeralds for Bottle o' Enchanting or Potion of Healing

Ender pearls, in particular, are very useful for traveling or entering the End dimension. Clerics can be a key part of your progression.

4. Armorer

Armorer villagers are crucial for acquiring high-quality armor sets in exchange for emeralds. You’ll get armor at various levels depending on the armorer’s trade tier.

Novice: Trade: Leather Armor for emeralds

Journeyman: Trade: Iron Armor for emeralds

Expert: Trade: Diamond Armor for emeralds

Master: Trade: Enchanted Diamond Armor for emeralds

These trades save you time and resources since you don’t have to mine all the materials yourself, plus they help you get high-quality armor sets without much effort.

5. Toolsmith and Weaponsmith

These two types of villagers are essential for getting tools and weapons, and they’re highly valuable for crafting powerful gear early on.

Novice: Trade: Stone tools (pickaxes, shovels, etc.) for emeralds

Journeyman: Trade: Iron tools or weapons for emeralds

Expert: Trade: Diamond tools for emeralds

Master: Trade: Enchanted tools for emeralds

These trades can allow you to get upgraded weapons and tools quickly without having to mine for materials or enchant them yourself.

Items to Trade for Emeralds

1. Leather: 6 leather → 1 emerald

2. Flint: 26 flint → 1 emerald (traded by fletchers)

3. Rabbit Hide: 9 rabbit hide → 1 emerald (traded by leatherworkers)

4. Scute: 4 scute → 1 emerald (scutes are dropped by baby turtles when they grow up)

5. Wheat: 18 wheat → 1 emerald (traded by farmers)

6. Carrot: 22 carrots → 1 emerald (traded by farmers)

7. Potatoes: 22 potatoes → 1 emerald (traded by farmers)

8. Paper: 24 paper → 1 emerald (traded by librarians)

9. Books: 1 book → 1 emerald (traded by librarians)

10. Coal: 19 coal → 1 emerald (traded by armorer, toolsmiths, or weaponsmiths)

11. Iron Ingot: 12 iron ingots → 1 emerald (traded by armorers, toolsmiths)

12. Feathers: 32 feathers → 1 emerald (traded by fletchers)

13. Glowstone Dust: 12 glowstone dust → 1 emerald (traded by clerics)

14. Nether Wart: 22 Nether Wart → 1 emerald (traded by clerics)

15. Emerald Ore: 1 emerald ore block → multiple emeralds (trade ratios vary)

16. Cobblestone: 10 cobblestones → 1 emerald (traded by mason)

Common Items You Can Receive for Emeralds

Now that you know what you can trade to villagers for emeralds, let’s take a look at the items you can receive from villagers in exchange for your hard-earned emeralds. The following lists provide examples of trades based on profession.

Armor and Leather Items

1. Leather Pants: 3 emerald → 1 Leather Pants

2. Leather Tunic: 7 emerald → 1 Leather Tunic

3. Leather Cap: 5 emerald → 1 Leather Cap

4. Leather Boots: 4 emerald → 1 Leather Boots

5. Leather Horse Armor: 6 emerald → 1 Leather Horse Armor

6. Saddle: 6 emerald → 1 Saddle

Tools and Weapons

1. Iron Pickaxe: 10 emerald → 1 Iron Pickaxe (offered by toolsmiths)

2. Iron Axe: 10 emerald → 1 Iron Axe (offered by toolsmiths)

3. Diamond Pickaxe: 20 emerald → 1 Diamond Pickaxe (offered by toolsmiths)

4. Diamond Sword: 20 emerald → 1 Diamond Sword (offered by weaponsmiths)

5. Iron Sword: 8 emerald → 1 Iron Sword (offered by weaponsmiths)

6. Bow: 15 emerald → 1 Bow (offered by fletchers)

7. Crossbow: 25 emerald → 1 Crossbow (offered by fletchers)

Other Unique Items

1. Enchanted Book: 20 emerald → 1 Enchanted Book (offered by librarians)

2. Mending Enchanted Book: 1 emerald → 1 Mending Enchanted Book (offered by librarians, or rare trade depending on level)

3. Potion of Fire Resistance: 6 emerald → 1 Potion of Fire Resistance (offered by clerics)

4. Potion of Healing: 6 emerald → 1 Potion of Healing (offered by clerics)

5. Ender Pearls: 8 emerald → 1 Ender Pearl (offered by clerics)

6. Dragon Breath: 5 emerald → 1 Dragon Breath (offered by clerics)

7. Glass Bottles: 3 emerald → 1 Glass Bottle (offered by clerics)

8. Bottle o' Enchanting: 8 emerald → 1 Bottle o' Enchanting (offered by clerics)

Food and Consumables

1. Pumpkin Pie: 6 emerald → 1 Pumpkin Pie (offered by farmers)

2. Golden Carrot: 8 emerald → 1 Golden Carrot (offered by farmers)

3. Cake: 7 emerald → 1 Cake (offered by farmers)

4. Suspicious Stew: 4 emerald → 1 Suspicious Stew (offered by farmers)

Miscellaneous

1. Maps: 5 emerald → 1 Map (offered by cartographers)

2. Exploration Maps: 7 emerald → 1 Exploration Map (offered by cartographers)

3. Fire Charge: 1 emerald → 1 Fire Charge (offered by armorer or toolsmiths)

4. Brick Block: 6 emerald → 1 Brick Block (offered by mason)

Conditions for Trading with Villagers

Emeralds

Emeralds are the primary currency used for trading with villagers. To obtain emeralds, you can either mine emerald ore or trade with other villagers. Villagers require different amounts of emeralds for different items, and these trade amounts can also depend on the villager’s level (novice, apprentice, journeyman, expert, or master).

Villager Profession

Villagers need to be assigned a profession to trade with them. You can change a villager’s profession by breaking and replacing their workstation. The higher the villager’s level, the better the trades.

Trading Cooldown

Villagers have a cooldown period after completing a trade. They will need to "rest" before offering new trades. Additionally, villagers restock their trades each day, so you may need to wait until morning to access fresh offers.

Reputation

Your reputation with villagers can affect trade prices. If you harm villagers or raid their villages, the cost of trades will increase. Helping villagers by curing zombie villagers or defending them from raids can improve your reputation and reduce trade costs.

Tips for Optimizing Villager Trades

• Villager Breeding: Set up a villager breeding area to gather more villagers and get better trades.

• Zombie Villager Curing: Cure zombie villagers to reduce trade prices and unlock discounts.

• Trading Hall: Build a trading hall to store and easily access a variety of villagers and their trades.

• Trade Repetition: Some villagers allow you to trade the same item repeatedly, like armor or food, making them valuable sources of infinite resources.

Villager trading is a core mechanic in Minecraft that can significantly boost your gameplay. Whether you’re looking for enchanted gear, rare materials, or valuable resources, understanding the different villager trades is key to thriving in the game. By knowing what items to trade for emeralds and what you can receive in return, you’ll be able to make the most out of your interactions with villagers.

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