How Villager Trading Works

Villager trading is Minecraft's most powerful progression system. With the right setup, you can buy every enchanted book, all diamond armor and tools, unlimited food, and building materials, all for cheap emeralds. This guide explains every trading mechanic in detail: how professions work, how prices change, and how to exploit curing discounts for 1-emerald trades.

Profession system

Villagers choose professions based on nearby workstation blocks. An unemployed villager (brown coat) walks to the nearest unclaimed workstation and takes that profession. Each profession has a unique set of trades.

Profession	Workstation	Notable Trades
Armorer	Blast Furnace	Diamond armor, chains
Butcher	Smoker	Cooked meat, buys raw meat
Cartographer	Cartography Table	Explorer maps, banners
Cleric	Brewing Stand	Ender pearls, redstone, glowstone
Farmer	Composter	Golden carrots, buys crops
Fisherman	Barrel	Campfire, buys fish
Fletcher	Fletching Table	Tipped arrows, buys sticks
Leatherworker	Cauldron	Leather armor, saddle
Librarian	Lectern	Enchanted books, name tags, glass
Mason	Stonecutter	Terracotta, quartz, buys clay/stone
Shepherd	Loom	Colored wool, paintings, buys dye
Toolsmith	Smithing Table	Diamond tools (pickaxe, axe, shovel)
Weaponsmith	Grindstone	Diamond sword, axe, bells

Nitwits (green-coated) and babies cannot take professions. Only brown-coated unemployed adults are valid candidates.

Trade levels

Each villager has 5 experience levels: Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert, and Master. Each level unlocks 1-2 new trade slots. You level up a villager by trading with it. Each trade gives the villager profession XP. Once enough XP accumulates, the villager levels up and you gain access to higher-tier trades.

Important: you must trade with a villager at each level to unlock the next. If you want a Master-level trade, you need to buy from the villager at Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, and Expert levels first.

Trade locking

A villager's trades become permanent after you trade with it even once. Before the first trade, you can break and replace the workstation to cycle the trades (the villager reverts to unemployed and re-rolls when reclaiming a new workstation). After the first trade, the trades are locked forever, even if you remove the workstation.

This is the basis of "lectern cycling" for librarians: place a lectern, check the book trade, if it is not what you want, break the lectern and place it again. Repeat until the desired enchanted book appears. Then trade once to lock it in.

Supply and demand

Villager prices are dynamic:

• Demand increases: Every time you buy a trade, the price increases slightly for subsequent purchases (up to a cap). This resets twice per Minecraft day when the villager "restocks" at its workstation.
• Demand decreases: If you do not buy a trade for several restock cycles, the price gradually returns to its base level.
• Supply limit: Each trade can only be used a limited number of times before the villager needs to restock. The restock happens twice per day when the villager accesses its workstation during work hours (roughly 2,000-9,000 ticks into the day).

Zombie curing discounts

When a zombie villager is cured (using a Splash Potion of Weakness + golden apple), the cured villager permanently reduces its prices. This discount stacks with multiple cures:

• 1 cure: Moderate discount (prices drop 20-30%).
• 2-3 cures: Large discount.
• 4-5 cures: Maximum discount. Most trades drop to 1 emerald, including enchanted books, diamond armor, and diamond tools.

The curing process on Java Edition also gives a "gossip" bonus to nearby villagers. If other villagers witness the cure (within range), they also lower their prices toward that player. This means curing one villager can discount an entire trading hall.

How to cure a zombie villager

1. A zombie must kill the villager. On Hard difficulty, this always converts the villager into a zombie villager. On Normal, there is a 50% chance (the other 50% kills the villager permanently).
2. Throw a Splash Potion of Weakness at the zombie villager (or use a witch's attack, or a Lingering Potion of Weakness, or a tipped arrow of Weakness).
3. Right-click the weakened zombie villager with a golden apple.
4. The zombie villager starts shaking and emitting red particles. After 3-5 minutes, it converts back into a normal villager with discounted prices.

Repeat the infection-and-cure cycle up to 5 times per villager for maximum discounts. Protect the villager during conversion (it is still hostile and can be killed by iron golems or other mobs).

Best trading strategies

Emerald income

The easiest trades for earning emeralds:

• Fletcher: 32 sticks = 1 emerald. Sticks are trivial to mass-produce from a tree farm.
• Farmer: Sells wheat, carrots, potatoes, beetroot, pumpkins, and melons for emeralds.
• Mason: 10 clay balls = 1 emerald. Clay is abundant from lush caves or mud conversion.
• Cleric: Buys rotten flesh. If you have a zombie farm, this is free emeralds.

Emerald spending

The best purchases with cured villager discounts:

• Librarian: All enchanted books for 1 emerald (after curing).
• Armorer: Full diamond armor set for 4 emeralds total.
• Toolsmith/Weaponsmith: Diamond pickaxe, sword, axe for 1 emerald each.
• Farmer: Golden carrots (best food in the game) for 1 emerald per 3 carrots.

Common mistakes

• Trading before checking all trades. Once you trade, the trades lock. Always verify the entire trade list (especially the first trade) before buying anything.
• Curing on Normal difficulty. Zombies only convert villagers 50% of the time on Normal. Use Hard difficulty for 100% conversion.
• Villager has no access to workstation. If the villager cannot pathfind to its workstation, it cannot restock trades. Make sure the workstation is within reach.
• Villager stealing another's workstation. Villagers can claim workstations up to 48 blocks away. If a new villager claims a workstation already assigned to another, trades may break. Isolate villagers in individual cells.
• Forgetting to level up the villager. High-level trades (Expert, Master) are often the best ones. You must trade at every level to unlock the next.

Frequently asked questions

Can cured villager discounts expire?

No. Once applied, the discount is permanent. It survives server restarts, chunk reloading, and any other event. The discount is stored as a "gossip" value on the villager entity data.

How many villagers do I need?

For a complete trading hall: 15-20 librarians (one per key enchantment), 1 armorer, 1 toolsmith, 1 weaponsmith, 2-3 farmers, 1 fletcher (emerald income), 1 cleric. Total: around 25 villagers covers all essentials.

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