Minecraft: 28 Best Villager Trades

Highlights

• Trade with villagers for rare items like cherry trees, mangrove propagules, and globe banner patterns to enhance gameplay efficiently.
• Make use of villager trades such as rotten flesh for emeralds, crafting flint for emeralds, and clay for emeralds to gain resources.
• Utilize librarian, toolsmith, and leatherworker trades for enchanted books, diamond pickaxes, and saddles to improve gameplay strategies.

Minecraft is all about gathering items and the right tools to go from simple survival to thriving in its sandbox world. While players can take the hard route and simply try and discover all the rare and useful items in the wild, a more efficient method is to simply trade for the items they need by interacting with villagers.

Villagers come with different jobs, which means that they have different trades. There are two types of trades for players to be aware of: Emerald trades, which allow players to get Emeralds easily without having to mine for them in mountain biomes, and “loot” trades, which let players use Emeralds and other items to buy various precious objects from the villagers. This can include Enchanted Books or maps to Woodland Mansions. With that clarified, let’s take a look at the best Minecraft villager trades.

Updated on May 1, 2024, by Ben Painter: Minecraft is always popular among fans, old and young. Gamers can create whatever they want in the game and play it exactly the way that they feel. This is why it is still one of the most-played games 13 years after its release. The new update, 1.21, is almost upon us, slated for a summer release. While gamers wait for this update, a good thing to do in the blocky world is build up their funds and resources, and a good way to do this is by trading with villagers. Some trades are pointless, but others are really worthwhile. This update adds five more of the best villager trades that gamers can make to get a lot of Emeralds.

Most trades can only be made a set number of times before the villager runs out of stock. The villager will restock a maximum of twice a day by interacting with their job block, so make sure they can access their job block at all times. The more a player trades, the better the prices will also be, so players might notice that the trade prices listed here will change over time when villagers take a liking to the player.

28 Wandering Trader – 5 Emeralds For 1 Cherry Sapling

Easiest Way To Obtain: Trade From Villagers

The cherry sapling and its tree were introduced in Minecraft 1.20 as a new tree, but finding one inside a world can cause some issues. The cherry tree is found exclusively in the Cherry Grove biome, which is a rare find in mountainous regions of the game.

This is where the Wandering Trader comes in, as gamers can pay just 5 Emeralds to get their own cherry trees. This trade only needs to be done once, as the grown tree will produce its own saplings to grow further trees. For some players, this trade will be unnecessary if they are lucky enough to spawn near the biome, but nine times out of ten, this trade will be a winner.

27 Wandering Trader – 5 Emeralds 1 Mangrove Propagule

Easiest Way To Obtain: Trade From Villagers

In a similar vein to the cherry tree, the mangrove propagule and its mangrove tree can be a difficult find, only available in the illusive Swamp biome. Players can spend hours traversing through a Minecraft world and not encounter one of these biomes.

For the price of 5 Emeralds, gamers can get their hands on this seed, known as a mangrove propagule, to grow their own mangrove trees. This tree is unique, as it doesn’t produce much wood, but it does generate mangrove roots, which are a very useful decoration block for Minecraft builds.

26 Cartographer – 8 Emeralds For Globe Banner Pattern (Master)

Easiest Way To Obtain: Trade From Villagers

Adding detail to a world is very important. It adds to the overall look of the world and allows for a much more immersive experience. Adding banners, from various designs, is a good way to add some detail. There are eight banner patterns in the game, and most can be crafted, but the Globe Banner Pattern has to be traded for from a Cartographer villager.

Sadly, this one is locked behind the Master trade, the highest level, so players will need to put in some trading work in order to unlock this banner pattern, but it’s worth it. In a loom, it will add a globe to the banner, which will add some detail to museum or study builds.

25 Librarian – 4 Books For 1 Emerald (Apprentice)

Easiest Way To Obtain: Cows (Leather), Sugarcane (Paper)

The librarian villager is perhaps the most useful villager to have in the game as they offer a wide variety of useful trades to help make the game easier. Once the player has an enchanting table and full enchanted armor there isn’t much use for books otherwise.

So, what gamers can do is trade them to the librarian to get some emeralds, books are easy to obtain, and bookcases spawn in certain structures. But they can also easily be crafted by killing some cows (easily bred for leather) and creating paper from sugarcane (easily farmed).

24 Cleric – 32 Rotten Flesh For 1 Emerald (Novice)

Easiest Way To Obtain: Killing Zombies

Rotten flesh is a pretty useless item in Minecraft, at a pinch it is a food source, but it causes the hunger effect. However, it can be fed to wolves without any additional effects. But, this is not really useful, so, the main thing that can be done with the item is to trade it to the Cleric to receive an Emerald.

It will cost 32 rotten flesh for 1 emerald, but considering how easy the item is to obtain, this should be a walk in the park. Gamers can spend one night killing zombies to receive a lot of rotten flesh or make a mob farm that can automatically kill zombies and collect the item. If done right, players will be rich in rotten flesh.

23 Mason – 10 Clay For 1 Emerald (Novice)

Easiest Way To Obtain: Find In Rivers

This starter-level trade with a Mason (grindstone required) is one of the easiest trades for players to make to quickly get some Emeralds. All players need is a shovel and a body of water, such as a river or a shallow pond nearby, to gather some clay. Swamp biomes are ideal for this.

Clay typically spawns underwater and is most common in shallower pools of water rather than oceans. It can be hard to distinguish from water when looking at it from the surface, but it breaks quickly when shoveled, even with a stone shovel. Due to how easily it can be acquired, it’s likely one of the go-to trade items for starting players, provided the village does have a Mason.

22 Leatherworker – 6 Leather For 1 Emerald (Novice)

Easiest Way To Obtain: Kill Cows

Leather is a fairly useful item, it can be used to craft: armor, item frames, horse armor, and books. Once gamers get past a certain stage in the game leather becomes obsolete. Considering how easy it is to farm, breed cows, and slaughter them, excess leather should be traded to receive some Emeralds and also XP.

Using the looting enchantment on the sword will reward the player with more leather from one cow, making this trade easier to obtain the item required.

21 Fletcher & Leatherworker – 26 Flint For 1 Emerald (Apprentice)

Easiest Way To Obtain: Mining Gravel

Both the Fletcher and Leatherworker villagers have a decent level 2 trade, which requires 26 Flint in exchange for one Emerald. Now, this definitely isn’t the easiest trade to go for, especially for players who have just started their survival world. However, players who have been in survival for a while might have quite an excess of Flint in their storage.

Otherwise, players can go shovel some gravel for quick and easy Flint. Each gravel block has a chance of dropping Flint, and if the shovel used comes with a Fortune enchantment, that chance is further increased.

20 Butcher – 10 Sweet Berries For 1 Emerald (Master)

Easiest Way To Obtain: Harvest From A Sweet Berry Bush

It’s unfortunate that this trade is at the highest level for the Butcher because it’s incredibly good for players who spawn in a taiga biome where Sweet Berry bushes can be found in abundance in the wild. Sweet Berry bushes grow quite fast, so players can set up a farm quickly once they get their hands on some Sweet Berries.

For only 10 Sweet Berries, players can get 1 Emerald. It’s definitely a more niche trade since it requires a biome-specific item, but given how often players have the chance of spawning in a taiga, it’s not impossible. The only downside is the high level of this trade, as leveling up a butcher requires players to trade in a ton of raw food that they would otherwise use to feed themselves once cooked.

19 Fisherman – 4 Pufferfish For 1 Emerald (Master)

Easiest Way To Obtain: Fishing

Another great Master-level trade sadly locked behind a ton of level grinding is 4 Pufferfish for 1 Emerald at the Fisherman villager. Pufferfish are fairly common to catch in just about any body of water that can yield fish, so by default, this is an excellent trade for players who regularly fish in Minecraft.

That said, good luck leveling the Fisherman up to this level. While it’s definitely doable, players will need to sacrifice some food resources like edible fish to actually get there.

18 Cleric – 3 Gold For 1 Emerald (Apprentice)

Easiest Way To Obtain: Mining In The Nether

Clerics appear in villages where a brewing stand is available. Most of their trades aren’t all that interesting, and players will typically be using Clerics to trade for Emeralds, which are some of the most important trades in the game.

Clerics have an interesting trade for one Emerald, which only requires 3 Gold from the player. Considering that players can pretty easily farm Gold from the Nether and that aside from Piglin trades, Gold doesn’t have a big utility in Minecraft, this is a decent trade to make when trying to farm Emeralds.

17 Mason – 12 Nether Quartz For 1 Emerald (Expert)

Easiest Way To Obtain: Mining In The Nether

The Mason will appear in any village that has a stonecutter. Masons are fantastic villagers to trade with for those who are looking for special blocks, but most of their trades are actually better off ignored in favor of this single Emerald trade.

Masons will trade 12 Nether Quartz for 1 Emerald. If players are lucky and get a nice Nether Wastes biome spawn when entering the Nether, they can mine a bunch of Nether Quartz for XP and then trade the Quartz for Emeralds at a Mason.

16 Fisherman – 20 String For 1 Emerald (Novice)

Easiest Way To Obtain: Killing Spiders

Fishermen will require a village to have a barrel in order for them to appear. Their trades are a bit more niche, but one of them does stick out among the rest: 20 strings for 1 Emerald.

This is a more expensive trade than some of the other ones listed here, but players who have access to a spider farm will be at a great advantage. If players come across a mineshaft with some spider spawners, they should save those spawners for a spider farm, which they can use to get infinite string, as well as infinite XP.

15 Fletcher – 32 Sticks For 1 Emerald (Novice)

Easiest Way To Obtain: Craft From Wood Or Collect From Harvested Trees

Fletchers will spawn in a village with a fletching table, which is one of the only job blocks in the game that still has no function for the player. Fletchers will sell some special arrows, which can be potentially interesting, but their Emerald trade isn’t half bad either.

32 sticks are relatively easy for most players to gather, especially if they have access to a forested area in Minecraft. Those with less forest around them can start a tree farm early on in the game and gather as much wood for this stick trade.

14 Farmer – 20 Wheat For 1 Emerald (Novice)

Easiest Way To Obtain: Wheat Crops

The benefit of farmer villagers is that they are found in pretty much every village. Farmers will need to have a composter at their disposal to be able to do their job properly, and they also come with a few good trades.

Their 20 wheat for 1 Emerald trade is one to take note of since most players will likely set up massive crop farms anyway and have a lot of leftovers after feeding their farm animals. Almost any Minecraft player will be able to afford this trade eventually, and players can even use the crops found in villages to contribute to this trade.

13 Wandering Trader – 5 Emeralds For 1 Nautilus Shell

Easiest Way To Obtain: Trade From Villagers

Outside of villages, players can occasionally meet the Wandering Trader, who will spawn on the player after a few days have passed. The Wandering Trader isn’t exactly selling big treasures; his inventory is typically full of plants, and rare blocks mostly meant for decoration.

That said, players wanting to create an underwater base and looking to make a Conduit will find his 5 Emerald trade for 1 Nautilus shell extremely useful. Nautilus shells are very hard to farm, as a lot of luck is required to fish them out of the water, so being able to trade for them with the Wandering Trader is a big relief.

12 Cartographer – 14 Emeralds & Compass For Woodland Mansion Map (Journeyman)

Easiest Way To Obtain: Trade From Other Villagers (Emeralds), Craft From 4 Iron & 1 Redstone (Compass)

Another exceedingly rare item that players should trade for is a Woodland Mansion map, found in the inventory of the Cartographer once he has been leveled up with a few traders. The first map he offers actually leads to an Ocean Monument, which can be a decent trade, too, though these underwater dungeons are far easier to find naturally than Woodland Mansions, so it’s recommended to save Emeralds for the latter trade.

Players will need 14 Emeralds and a compass for this trade. Though the map will show the closest Woodland Mansion, players shouldn’t expect it to be a short trip. These structures can sometimes be over 10,000 blocks away, making them almost impossible to reach quickly from the Overworld. By traveling through the Nether in the Mansion’s rough direction, players will cut their travel time provided they can find a safe passage.

11 Cartographer – 13 Emeralds & Compass For Ocean Explorer Map (Apprentice)

Easiest Way To Obtain: Trade From Other Villagers (Emeralds), Craft From 4 Iron & 1 Redstone (Compass)

Finding structures in Minecraft can be a chore. Some of the bigger and rarer structures will not spawn for thousands of blocks away from the player’s spawn. A trick to make this easier is trading with a Cartographer villager to find a map. In this case, the Ocean Explorer Map can be found at the Apprentice level for the cheap price of 13 Emeralds and 1 Compass.

This will take the player to an Ocean Monument, where they can fight Guardians, collect prismarine, and find a lot of gold. However, it is no easy task, so make sure to be prepared and have a good deal of Water Breathing Potions at the ready.

Easiest Way To Obtain: Mine Underground

When it comes to the best Emerald trades in Minecraft, there are three villagers that players must visit: the Armorer (blast furnace required), the Weaponsmith (smithing table required), and the Toolsmith (grindstone required).

Their basic level 1 trade of 15 Coal for 1 Emerald is easily the best trade in the game when players are looking to fatten their pockets with more Emeralds to be able to afford other trades. The nice thing is that there are three different villagers with this identical trade, so players can simply craft the required job blocks and assign these jobs to villagers in a village that doesn’t have all three of these jobs.

Easiest Way To Obtain: Create An Iron Farm

Once the player has traded enough with the three previously mentioned villagers, another trade will unlock, which is also quite interesting but a bit more expensive. Players can trade 4 Iron ingots for 1 Emerald at an Armorer, Weaponsmith, or Toolsmith.

Some might argue this is a terrible trade because, in the endgame, the value and utility of iron actually increase once diamonds become an abundant source thanks to enchantments like Fortune III. However, iron is extremely easy to farm, whereas diamond remains unfarmable. Players can set up an iron golem farm to get all the iron they need for this handy Emerald trade.