Villagers are the best source of Enchanted Books, maps and gear in Minecraft, as long as you know how they work. This guide covers how a villager gets a job, which job site block belongs to each of the 13 professions, how trading levels go from Novice to Master, how curing a zombie villager cuts prices and how to breed villagers. It applies to Java 26.3 and Bedrock 26.52 (the Wilderness Bound drop, September 2026), and we point out where the two editions differ.
How a villager gets a job
A villager without a job picks one on its own: it claims a free job site block nearby and becomes, say, a Librarian or a Farmer depending on the block. There are 13 professions. Two kinds of villagers are the exception. An unemployed villager simply has no job yet, while a Nitwit has none and never will, so you cannot trade with it at all.
You can change a profession, but only before the first trade. As long as you have not traded with a villager, taking its job site block away is enough, and it will claim a different one. Once you trade with it even once, it keeps that profession for good.
Professions and job site blocks
| Profession | Job site block |
|---|---|
| Armorer | Blast Furnace |
| Butcher | Smoker |
| Cartographer | Cartography Table |
| Cleric | Brewing Stand |
| Farmer | Composter |
| Fisherman | Barrel |
| Fletcher | Fletching Table |
| Leatherworker | Cauldron |
| Librarian | Lectern |
| Mason | Stonecutter |
| Shepherd | Loom |
| Toolsmith | Smithing Table |
| Weaponsmith | Grindstone |
Names follow the official Java 26.3 English localisation. You will find the recipes for every job site block in our crafting recipes guide.
Which villagers are worth it
We deliberately do not list exact offers and prices here. They change across 26.x, and Mojang is testing a trade rebalance as an experiment. As a rule of thumb:
- Librarian sells Enchanted Books with almost any enchantment, Mending included. More in our enchantments guide.
- Cartographer sells explorer maps.
- Cleric offers Lapis Lazuli, Ender Pearls and Glowstone, among other things.
- Fletcher buys sticks from you.
- Weaponsmith and Armorer sell enchanted diamond weapons and armour at higher levels.
Trading levels: Novice to Master
Emeralds are the currency. Every villager with a profession has 5 levels: Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert and Master. The more you trade, the higher it climbs and the more offers it unlocks. The badge on its clothes shows the level: stone, iron, gold, emerald and diamond.
In Java, a villager has at most 10 offers and each level adds up to two, chosen at random. In Bedrock, the slots are fixed, with 7 to 10 offers in total. Every trade also gives you 3 to 6 experience points.
Villagers restock up to twice a day at their job site block. If you buy something often, the price of that offer goes up with demand. The wandering trader works differently: it has no levels, but trading with it still gives you experience.
How to get cheaper prices
Prices depend on how you treat villagers. Attack or kill them and, in Java, they raise their prices for you. Two things bring prices down:
- Hero of the Village – the effect you get for defending a village from a raid. It lowers prices at every villager.
- Curing a zombie villager – a cured villager with a profession gives you discounts on most offers, and the discount is permanent.
How to cure a zombie villager
- Give the zombie villager the Weakness effect, most easily with a Splash Potion of Weakness. Our brewing guide shows how to make one.
- Then give it a Golden Apple.
- Wait. Within five minutes it turns back into a villager.
Villager breeding
Villagers need two things to breed: free beds and enough food. Each bed needs at least two free blocks above it. For food, 3 Bread or 12 carrots, potatoes or beetroots will do, and you can simply throw it to them. They do not need job site blocks to breed.
After breeding successfully, villagers are not willing again for 5 minutes. The baby villager starts unemployed. If you want to add your own contraptions to a trading hall, start with our redstone basics.
The Minecraft Wiki covers every trading mechanic in detail, and Mojang introduces the jobs in its own article.
Join our Discord, Discord GamersTogether, to show off your trading hall or ask how to lay out a village so nothing disturbs your villagers.
FAQ
Either someone has already traded with it, so it keeps its profession for good, or it is a Nitwit, which never gets a job. For an unemployed villager, just place a free Lectern within its reach.
Only if nobody has traded with it yet. Take its job site block away and give it a different one. After the first trade, the profession is locked.
Five: Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert and Master. The badge on its clothes shows the level, from stone to diamond.
Give it the Weakness effect, for example with a Splash Potion of Weakness, then a Golden Apple. Within five minutes it is a villager again and gives you a permanent discount.
No. Free beds with two empty blocks above them and enough food, such as 3 Bread, are all they need.
Information verified on 19 October 2026. More guides are waiting in our Minecraft guides.