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Minecraft Villager Trades Guide (2026): Best Trades & Emerald Farms - Minecraft Wiki

Minecraft Villager Trades Guide (2026)

Applies to current Java & Bedrock. Trading is the most reliable path to Mending, diamond gear, and a stable emerald economy.

How trading works

Give a villager a job-site block (lectern, blast furnace, etc.) and it takes that profession. Trades unlock across five tiers as you trade with it: Novice → Apprentice → Journeyman → Expert → Master. Each tier adds up to two new offers. Two rules matter:

  • Once you complete one trade, the profession locks - you can no longer reroll its offers by breaking the job block.
  • You can only re-roll offers before that first trade. Break and replace the job-site block on a Novice villager to cycle its offers.

The Librarian (the most important villager)

Librarians (lectern) sell random enchanted books - including Mending, which cannot be obtained from an enchanting table. To get the book you want:

  1. Cure or create a fresh Novice librarian and give it a lectern.
  2. Check the book it offers. If it's not the one you want, break the lectern and place it again to re-roll.
  3. Repeat until you see Mending (or Efficiency, Fortune, Unbreaking, Protection…), then trade once to lock it in.

Best trades by profession

ProfessionWhy trade with it
LibrarianEnchanted books (Mending, Fortune, Efficiency, Protection) - the single most valuable villager.
FletcherFastest early emeralds: sells sticks then arrows; buys cheaply.
FarmerBuys crops (wheat, carrots, pumpkins) for emeralds - pairs with an auto-farm.
ClericBuys rotten flesh, sells Ender Pearls and Redstone/Glowstone.
Toolsmith / Weaponsmith / ArmorerEnchanted diamond tools, weapons and armor at higher tiers.
Wandering TraderRandom rares; mostly useful for hard-to-get plants and sponges.

Fast emerald economy

  • Set up a Fletcher + Farmer first for early income (a Librarian can buy 24 paper → 1 emerald; sugar-cane farms automate easily with pistons + observers).
  • Funnel emeralds into a Librarian for Mending and key books, then an Armorer/Weaponsmith for full diamond gear.
  • Build a trading hall (a row of cubicles, each with a villager + job block) so every enchant and resource is one trade away.

Zombie-curing for permanent discounts

Hit a villager with a Splash Potion of Weakness, feed it a Golden Apple, and wait for it to cure. The cured villager gives permanent discounts - expensive books like Mending can drop from 20-30 emeralds to roughly 8-10. Curing librarians is the endgame move for a cheap enchant economy. (See the brewing guide for the Splash Potion of Weakness.)

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