Minecraft Villager Trading: Jobs, Best Trades, Cure Discount

Villager trading in Minecraft swaps emeralds for items, and a villager's offers depend on its profession, which it gets by claiming a job site block such as a lectern (librarian) or composter (farmer). Villagers level up from Novice to Master as you trade, unlocking better offers, and prices can be cut sharply by curing zombie villagers and by the Hero of the Village effect. As of Java Edition 26.3 and Bedrock Edition 26.50 (Wilderness Bound, released September 15, 2026), the librarian and armorer parts of the villager trade rebalance are still an opt-in experiment, so default worlds use the classic trade tables. This guide covers every profession, trade levels, the best trades, exact curing and Hero discounts, and the rebalance status.

Checked against the Minecraft Wiki trading, villager and experiments pages for Java Edition 26.3 and Bedrock Edition 26.50 on November 12, 2026.

Prices and probabilities below are for default worlds. Rebalance details apply only when the experiment is switched on, and the curing numbers are worked out from the wiki's published reputation values.

What are the villager professions and job site blocks?

There are 13 professions, and an unemployed villager takes one by claiming the matching unclaimed job site block nearby. Nitwits (the villagers in green coats) never take a job and cannot trade.

Profession	Job site block	Known for
Armorer	Blast furnace	Iron armor and bells; buys coal and iron
Butcher	Smoker	Buys raw beef and porkchops; sells cooked chicken
Cartographer	Cartography table	Maps; buys paper and glass panes
Cleric	Brewing stand	Ender pearls, Bottles o' Enchanting, buys rotten flesh
Farmer	Composter	Buys crops, sells golden carrots
Fisherman	Barrel	Buys string and salmon; sells enchanted fishing rods
Fletcher	Fletching table	Buys sticks, sells arrows and bows
Leatherworker	Cauldron	Leather armor and saddles
Librarian	Lectern	Enchanted books, bookshelves
Mason	Stonecutter	Bricks and stone blocks; buys clay
Shepherd	Loom	Shears and carpets; buys wool and dyes
Toolsmith	Smithing table	Enchanted diamond tools
Weaponsmith	Grindstone	Enchanted diamond swords and axes

Once you complete one trade with a villager, its profession and current offers are locked for good. Before that first trade, breaking its job site block can make a Novice lose its job, and placing the block again rolls a new set of offers. This is how players reroll a librarian until it offers the book they want.

How do villager trade levels work?

Every trade gives the villager experience, and at set totals it moves up a level and unlocks new offers. A villager needs 250 total experience to reach Master.

Level	Badge	Total villager XP needed
Novice	Stone	0
Apprentice	Iron	10
Journeyman	Gold	70
Expert	Emerald	150
Master	Diamond	250

On Java, each level adds up to two offers picked at random from that level's pool, for a maximum of 10. On Bedrock, each level has up to three fixed slots that each draw from their own pool, giving 7 to 10 offers depending on the profession. Each trade also gives you 3 to 6 experience, plus 5 more when it levels the villager up.

Each offer has a stock limit. Villagers restock up to twice a day, but only after working at their job site block. Bedrock adds one more requirement: the villager needs a linked bed nearby (it does not have to sleep in it). Trading the same offer heavily also raises demand, which pushes that price up after the next restock until you trade it less.

What are the best villager trades in Minecraft?

Librarians are the best trade in the game because they sell enchanted books, including Mending, for emeralds. Farmers, clerics and fletchers are the easiest emerald sources because they buy cheap, farmable items.

Villager	Trade	Level	Why it is good
Librarian	5 to 64 emeralds plus 1 book for an enchanted book	Novice to Expert	Any non-excluded enchantment, including Mending
Librarian	24 paper for 1 emerald	Novice	Sugar cane farms turn straight into emeralds
Librarian	9 emeralds for 1 bookshelf	Novice	Fast way to build an enchanting setup
Farmer	20 wheat, 26 potatoes, 22 carrots or 15 beetroots for 1 emerald	Novice	Crop farms feed it endlessly
Farmer	6 pumpkins or 4 melons for 1 emerald	Apprentice, Journeyman	Works with automatic pumpkin and melon farms
Farmer	3 emeralds for 3 golden carrots	Master	One of the best foods in the game
Cleric	32 rotten flesh for 1 emerald	Novice	Turns zombie drops into currency
Cleric	5 emeralds for 1 ender pearl	Expert	Pearls without hunting endermen
Cleric	3 emeralds for 1 Bottle o' Enchanting	Master	Experience for repairs and enchanting
Fletcher	32 sticks for 1 emerald	Novice	Any tree farm becomes an emerald farm
Toolsmith	18 to 32 emeralds for an enchanted diamond pickaxe	Master	Diamond gear without diamonds

Librarian book prices scale with the enchantment's level. The base range is 2 + 3 times the level up to 6 + 13 times the level, capped at 64 emeralds. Treasure enchantments such as Mending and Frost Walker cost double.

Book level	Normal price	Treasure price (Mending, Frost Walker)
I	5 to 19	10 to 38
II	8 to 32	16 to 64
III	11 to 45	22 to 64
IV	14 to 58	28 to 64
V	17 to 64	34 to 64

Librarians never sell Soul Speed, Swift Sneak or Wind Burst. On Java, an enchanted book shows up in a Novice to Journeyman librarian's offers 67% of the time and at Expert 50% of the time; on Bedrock those chances are 50% and 33%. For the enchantments worth buying first on each item, see the best enchantments guide.

How much does curing a zombie villager discount trades?

Curing a zombie villager gives you a permanent discount with that villager, and on Java an enchanted book trade can drop by up to 25 emeralds. Curing the same villager again adds nothing, so each villager only needs one cure.

To cure one, hit the zombie villager with Weakness (a splash or lingering potion or a tipped arrow), then use a plain golden apple on it. Enchanted golden apples do not work. The cure takes 3 to 5 minutes, during which it has Strength and shakes. Iron bars and beds within a 9x9x9 area speed the process slightly, up to 14 blocks counted. A villager that already traded before turning keeps its old profession and offers. To make a zombie villager on purpose, let a zombie kill a villager: the chance it converts is 0% on Easy, 50% on Normal and 100% on Hard.

On Java, the discount comes from gossip. A cure gives the curer major positive gossip (worth 20, times a multiplier of 5) and minor positive gossip (worth 25, times 1). The major part never fades and is not shared, while the minor part fades by 1 every 20 minutes and can spread to other villagers. Each trade then loses the price multiplier times your reputation, rounded down, with a floor of 1 emerald.

Trade type	Price multiplier	Discount right after a cure (reputation 125)	Discount once minor gossip fades (reputation 100)
Enchanted books and enchanted diamond tools	0.2	25 emeralds	20 emeralds
Most other trades	0.05	6 items	5 items

Regular trading also adds a small amount of temporary trading gossip on Java, which lowers prices a little more. On Java, hitting or killing villagers creates negative gossip that can raise prices above normal. On Bedrock, villagers within a 16-block cube of a cured villager also get a smaller discount that grows with the number of cured villagers, up to 10, and negative reputation can only cancel discounts, never raise a price above its base.

How does Hero of the Village lower prices?

Winning a raid gives you Hero of the Village for 40 minutes, and every villager offers you 30% off at level I, up to 55% off at level V. The discount works in any village, not just the one you defended.

Effect level	Discount on base price
I	30%
II	36.25%
III	42.5%
IV	48.75%
V	55%

You get the effect by killing at least one raider and clearing the final wave. On Java its level matches the omen level that started the raid, so a level V omen gives the 55% discount. Bedrock has only level I. The reduction is rounded down but always removes at least 1 item unless the price is already 1, and it stacks with curing discounts. On Bedrock it also applies to wandering traders. On Java, villagers throw gifts at a hero standing within 5 blocks.

Is the villager trade rebalance live in Minecraft?

Only partly. The cartographer and wandering trader changes became standard in Java 1.21.5 and Bedrock 1.21.70, but the librarian and armorer changes are still behind the Villager Trade Rebalance experiment in Java 26.3 and Bedrock 26.50.

On Java, turn it on by enabling the Villager Trade Rebalance experimental data pack when creating a world. On Bedrock, switch on Villager Trade Rebalancing in the Experiments section of world settings. With it on, trading changes like this:

Area	Change in the experiment
Librarian books	Each biome's librarians sell their own list of enchantments instead of any enchantment
Master librarians	Offer one special book with a fixed enchantment and level; since Java 26.1, master librarians always get three trades so a book is always offered
Mending	Only master swamp librarians sell it
Weapon-specific books	Crossbow, fishing rod, trident, mace and spear enchantments are no longer sold by librarians
Armorers	Diamond armor also costs diamonds; chainmail only from jungle and swamp armorers; savanna armorers sell cheaper cursed diamond armor; taiga armorers swap one diamond piece for another

The upcoming winter drop (Java 26.4 and Bedrock 26.70, still in snapshots and previews, with no release date confirmed by Mojang according to press reports) keeps Villager Trade Rebalancing in the Bedrock experiments list, so there is no sign yet that it becomes default. The Wilderness Bound guide covers what the current drop added, including new wandering trader items.

What are the Java and Bedrock trading differences?

The core system is the same, but Bedrock uses fixed trade slots, needs beds for restocking, and handles reputation more gently.

Mechanic	Java Edition	Bedrock Edition
New offers per level	Up to 2 from a random pool	Up to 3 fixed slots
Restock requirement	Work at job site	Work at job site and have a linked bed nearby
Negative reputation	Can raise prices above base	Only cancels discounts
Cure discount for nearby villagers	Through shared minor gossip	Villagers within 16 blocks, scaling with cures up to 10
Hero of the Village levels	I to V	I only
Hero discount on wandering traders	No	Yes
Hero of the Village gifts	Yes	No
Farmer suspicious stew	Random effect	Always Night Vision

Related guides

FAQ

What block makes a villager a librarian?

A lectern. Place it near an unemployed villager and the villager claims it and becomes a librarian. Nitwits in green coats never take a job.

How do you reset a villager's trades?

Break and replace its job site block before you trade with it. Once you complete a single trade, the villager's profession and offers are locked permanently.

Do zombie villager cure discounts stack?

No. Curing the same villager more than once adds no extra discount. On Java a single cure can take up to 25 emeralds off an enchanted book trade, with a minimum price of 1 emerald.

How long does it take to cure a zombie villager?

Between 3 and 5 minutes after you use a golden apple on a zombie villager that has Weakness. Iron bars and beds nearby shorten it slightly.

Is the villager trade rebalance on by default?

Not fully. Cartographer and wandering trader changes became default in Java 1.21.5 and Bedrock 1.21.70, but the biome-based librarian books and armorer changes still need the experiment enabled in Java 26.3 and Bedrock 26.50.

Why are my villagers not restocking?

Villagers only restock after working at their own job site block, up to twice a day. On Bedrock they also need a linked bed nearby.

What is the best villager trade in Minecraft?

A librarian selling Mending is the most valuable, since Mending is a treasure enchantment that the enchanting table never offers. For emeralds, farmers, clerics and fletchers buy cheap farmable items like crops, rotten flesh and sticks.