Best Villager Trades Ranked: All Professions

Not all villager trades are created equal. Some are incredible emerald sources, others give you items worth far more than their cost, and some are barely worth the click. This guide ranks the best trades across all 13 professions so you know which villagers to prioritize in your trading hall.

Best trades for earning emeralds

These trades let you convert easy-to-farm items into emeralds. They form the backbone of any villager-based economy.

1. Farmer: crops for emeralds

Farmers buy wheat, potatoes, carrots, beetroot, pumpkins, and melons. Crops are trivially farmable with automatic farms. A single large wheat farm can produce enough to trade with multiple farmers per day. This is the most efficient emerald source for most players because the input is fully automatic.

2. Fletcher: sticks for emeralds

Fletchers buy 32 sticks for 1 emerald at Novice level. Sticks come from wood or bamboo, both of which are renewable and easy to farm. A bamboo farm connected to a fletcher is one of the most hands-off emerald generators in the game.

3. Cleric: rotten flesh for emeralds

Clerics buy 32 rotten flesh for 1 emerald. Rotten flesh accumulates from zombie farms, mob grinders, and general exploration. Since most players have more rotten flesh than they know what to do with, this trade is free emeralds from existing gameplay.

4. Librarian: paper for emeralds

Librarians buy 24 paper for 1 emerald. Sugar cane farms produce paper in large quantities. If you have an automatic sugar cane farm, this is a steady income source.

5. Mason: clay balls for emeralds

Masons buy 10 clay balls for 1 emerald. Clay is renewable through mud and dripstone mechanics (converting dirt to mud with water bottles, then placing mud above dripstone to drip into clay). This is an underrated emerald source.

Best trades for items

These trades give you items that are extremely valuable relative to their emerald cost.

1. Librarian: Mending book

The single most important trade in the game. Mending makes your gear permanent. After curing, Mending books cost 1 emerald. See the Mending guide for the full cycling strategy.

2. Armorer: diamond armor

Armorers sell enchanted diamond armor at Expert and Master tiers. Combined with curing discounts, you can gear up in full enchanted diamond armor without mining any diamonds. The trades cover helmets, chestplates, leggings, and boots.

3. Toolsmith: enchanted diamond tools

Toolsmiths sell enchanted diamond pickaxes, axes, shovels, and hoes at higher tiers. Again, with curing discounts, these become extremely cheap. A cured Toolsmith can outfit you with a full set of enchanted diamond tools for a handful of emeralds.

4. Weaponsmith: enchanted diamond sword

Weaponsmiths sell enchanted diamond swords and axes at Expert and Master tiers. The enchantments are random but can include Sharpness, Smite, or Bane of Arthropods. Combined with an anvil and librarian books, this is how you build endgame weapons.

5. Cartographer: explorer maps

Cartographers sell Woodland Explorer Maps and Ocean Explorer Maps. These are the only reliable way to find woodland mansions and ocean monuments without external tools. The maps reveal the structure's location and are worth the emerald cost.

6. Farmer: golden carrots

Farmers sell golden carrots at Master tier. Golden carrots are the best food in the game (highest saturation value). Having a renewable supply from a farmer means you never need to craft them with gold nuggets.

7. Cleric: ender pearls

Clerics sell ender pearls at Expert tier. Before reaching the End, this is one of the few ways to obtain ender pearls. Even after reaching the End, buying pearls saves the time of farming Endermen.

Worst trades (avoid these)

• Leatherworker: leather armor. Leather armor is outclassed immediately by iron and is easy to craft. The trades offer almost no value.
• Shepherd: paintings. Paintings are easily craftable and not worth emeralds.
• Fisherman: cooked cod/salmon. Food is abundant in Minecraft. Cooked fish is not worth trading for when you can cook it yourself or get better food from farmers.
• Any profession: trades that buy diamonds for emeralds. Diamonds are more valuable as raw materials than as trade inputs. Never sell diamonds to villagers unless you have an extreme surplus.

Building a complete trading hall

The ideal trading hall covers all your needs with a minimum number of villagers. A solid starting setup:

• 3-5 Librarians (Mending, Unbreaking III, Efficiency V, Fortune III, Silk Touch, Protection IV, etc.)
• 2-3 Farmers (emerald income from crops)
• 1-2 Fletchers (emerald income from sticks)
• 1 Armorer (diamond armor at higher tiers)
• 1 Toolsmith (diamond tools)
• 1 Weaponsmith (diamond swords/axes)
• 1 Cleric (sell rotten flesh, buy ender pearls)
• 1 Cartographer (explorer maps)

This gives you 11-15 villagers that cover emerald income, all enchantments, full gear sets, and navigation maps. For the full build guide, see how to build a trading hall.

Frequently asked questions

Which villager gives the most emeralds per hour?

The farmer, because crop farms produce the highest volume of tradeable items with the least player input. A large automatic wheat farm can generate hundreds of emeralds per day with just a few minutes of trading.

Are Wandering Trader trades worth it?

Rarely. Wandering Traders charge high prices for items that are usually obtainable elsewhere. The few exceptions are rare flower types and saplings from biomes you have not found yet. In general, villager trades are far superior.

Do trades change between game versions?

Yes. Mojang adjusts the villager trade pools occasionally. Major updates sometimes add or remove specific trades. Always check the current version's trade tables when setting up a new trading hall. See the 1.21 trading changes guide for the latest adjustments.

Should I cure all my villagers or just some?

Cure all of them if possible. The time investment is small compared to the permanent emerald savings. Even villagers you only use occasionally benefit from lower prices.

For detailed trade tables across all professions, visit trades.astroworldmc.com.

Want to try villager trading on a server with a full player economy? Astroworld MC runs economy survival with an auction house, custom enchants, and crossplay. IP: play.astroworldmc.com