Minecraft: All Villager Jobs, Explained

If you plan to build your own massive trading hub in Minecraft, here is what you need to know about all villager jobs in the game.

Minecraft All Villager Jobs, Explained
Villagers are a good source of tools and crafting recipes. (Source: Mojang)

Minecraft Villager Jobs is one of the features that players take advantage of in the game in almost every playthrough. Each villager’s job corresponds to a specific profession, ranging from farmers and librarians to blacksmiths and fletchers.

This provides unique trades that cater to various player needs. Furthermore, high-level trades allow them to offer even more powerful or rare items. Once you have established your own village, you will spend less time going out in the wild and simply trade emeralds for resources.

Here is a comprehensive guide on all villager jobs and what they do in Minecraft.

List of All Minecraft Villager Jobs (Updated for 2025)

There are a total of 15 Villager jobs as of Minecraft 1.21 update. Each job has a specific block that allows a nearby villager to take a profession: 

  • Cleric: Brewing Stand
  • Shepherd: Loom
  • Butcher: Smoker
  • Weaponsmith: Grindstone
  • Leatherworker: Cauldron
  • Librarian: Lectern
  • Toolsmith: Smithing Table
  • Fisherman: Barrel
  • Cartographer: Cartography Table
  • Armorer: Blast Furnace
  • Mason: Stonecutter
  • Fletcher: Fletching Table
  • Farmer: Composter
  • Nitwit: N/A
  • Wandering Trader: N/A
  • Unemployed: N/A

More information about each villager’s profession can be found below.

Cleric

Minecraft Villager Job - Cleric
Minecraft Villager Job – Cleric (Source: Mojang)

Nearby brewing stands can be claimed by villagers to become a Cleric. They trade various potions or recipes for said potions. They also sell various items that are crucial to entering the End dimension like Ender Pearls. 

Shepherd

Minecraft Villager Job - Sheperd
Minecraft Villager Job – Sheperd (Source: Mojang)

The loom can turn a villager into a shepherd. They specialize in wool trading and other items relating to wool like carpets, beds, banners, and more. This is where you can sell your dyes for a bit of emeralds.

Butcher

Minecraft Villager - Butcher
Minecraft Villager Job – Butcher (Source: Mojang)

Placing a Smoker near a villager will allow them to gain the Butcher profession. They sell all sorts of cooked meat and buy raw meat from you. 

Weaponsmith

Minecraft Villager Job - Weaponsmith
Minecraft Villager Job – Weaponsmith (Source: Mojang)

Nearby grindstone can turn a villager into a weaponsmith. At early levels, they trade mediocre weapons with little to no enchanting. However, higher trade levels will allow you to trade emeralds for powerful weapon enchantments. They even sell diamond weapons for a decent price. 

Leatherworker

Minecraft Villager Job - Leather
Minecraft Villager Job – Leather (Source: Mojang)

Villagers can claim a nearby cauldron to gain the leatherworker job in Minecraft. At lower levels, you can trade emeralds for various leather tools. At higher levels, they start selling saddles.

Librarian

Minecraft Villager Job - Librarian
Minecraft Villager Job – Librarian (Source: Mojang)

Placing a lectern near a villager will turn them into a librarian. This is arguably one of the most important villager jobs in the game. They trade various enchanted books, including the rare Mending enchantment at higher trade levels. 

Toolsmith

Minecraft Villager Job - Toolsmith
Minecraft Villager Job – Toolsmith (Source: Mojang)

The smithing table can provide the toolsmith job to a villager. They sell tools like axes, pickaxes, and shovels. At higher levels, they start selling diamond tools both regular and enchanted ones. 

Fisherman

Minecraft Villager Job - Fisherman
Minecraft Villager Job – Fisherman (Source: Mojang)

Villagers can claim a barrel to get the fisherman job in Minecraft. They sell aquatic produce like raw fish and crafting materials for tools like fishing rods. At higher trade levels, they can sell enchanted fishing rods. 

Cartographer

Minecraft Villager Job - Cartographer
Minecraft Villager Job – Cartographer (Source: Mojang)

A cartography table can turn a villager into a cartographer. They sell empty maps as well as ocean and woodland explorer maps. At higher trade levels, they start selling item frames and various banners. 

Armorer

Minecraft Villager - Armorer
Minecraft Villager Job – Armorer (Source: Mojang)

Placing a blast furnace on a nearby unemployed villager will turn them into an armorer. They trade equipment like armor and shields. At higher trade levels, they start selling enchanted diamond equipment. 

Mason

Minecraft Villager Job - Mason
Minecraft Villager Job – Mason (Source: Mojang)

Villagers can claim a nearby stonecutter to become a mason. They sell various blocks like stone and clay. They also sell various polished stones. At higher trade levels, you can trade emeralds with colored and glazed terracotta as well as quartz blocks.

Fletcher

Minecraft Villager Job - Fletcher
Minecraft Villager Job – Fletcher (Source: Mojang)

Fletching tables can turn unemployed villagers into fletchers. They trade arrows, crossbows, and bows. At higher trade levels, they can sell enchanted ranged weapons and tipped arrows that have various special effects.

Farmer

Minecraft Villager Job - Farmer
Minecraft Villager Job – Farmer (Source: Mojang)

Nearby composter blocks can give a villager the farmer job in Minecraft. They can sell crops to you and vice versa. They are the best villagers to have if you want to earn emeralds fast in Minecraft, aside from selling sticks to fletchers. 

Nitwit

Nitwit Villager
Minecraft Villager Job – Nitwit (Source: Mojang)

These villagers do not have jobs and refuse to take any profession in the game. They don’t do anything and would simply roam around the village.

Wandering Trader

Wandering Trader
Minecraft Villager Job – Wandering Trader (Source: Mojang)

This is a unique mob in Minecraft. It has the same model as villagers but they don’t belong in any village. You will find them spawning in the wilderness or near your base or villages. They sell random items and craft recipes. They drink invisibility potions during the night.

Unemployed

Unemployed Villager
Minecraft Villager Job – Unemployed (Source: Mojang)

These villagers are ready to take a profession anytime a nearby job block is available. Otherwise, they don’t do anything in the game other than roam around the village.

How To Assign Jobs to Minecraft Villagers

How to assign jobs to villagers
Villagers will claim any Job Block nearby to get a job. (Source: Mojang)

To assign a job to villagers, you need to craft the corresponding blocks for each profession in Minecraft. Here is how you can do it:

  • Craft a Job Block
  • Place Job Block Near a Villager
  • Wait For the Villager to Acquire the Profession
  • Trade With Villager

More information about the method can be found below.

Craft Job Blocks

Here is a quick rundown of each profession block and how to craft them:

Brewing Stand

Crafting Recipe:

  • 3x Cobblestone
  • 1x Blaze Rod

Shepherd: Loom

  • 2x Wooden Planks
  • 2x String

Butcher: Smoker

  • 4x Wood
  • 1x Furnace

Weaponsmith: Grindstone

  • 2x Stick
  • 2x Wooden Plank
  • 1x Stone Slab

Leatherworker: Cauldron

  • 7x Iron Inggot

Librarian: Lectern

  • 4x Wooden Slab
  • 1x Bookshelf

Toolsmith: Smithing Table

  • 4x Wooden Plank
  • 2x Iron Inggot

Fisherman: Barrel

  • 6x Wooden Plank
  • 2x Wooden Slab

Cartographer: Cartography Table

  • 2x Paper
  • 4x Wooden Plank

Armorer: Blast Furnace

  • 5x Iron Inggot
  • 3x Smooth Stone
  • 1x Furnace

Mason: Stonecutter

  • 3x Stone
  • 1x Iron Inggot

Fletcher: Fletching Table

  • 2x Flint
  • 4x Wooden Plank

Place Job Block Near a Villager

Once you have a Job Block in hand, place it near a Village that already claimed a nearby bed. If you are wondering why your villagers are not taking any jobs, this might be because they have no beds to claim. Once they have a bed, they will be ready to claim a job and start trading.

Wait for the Villager to Acquire the Profession

Nearby Villagers should go near the Job Block once you place it. Once of them will be able to claim it and change their type of clothing to the corresponding job and village biome. 

Trade With Villager

You can start trading with the villagers once they have a job. However, Keep in mind that they need to have a nearby job block in order to keep their job if you have not traded with them. Once you traded at least once, they will keep their job forever.

Another issue that players encounter is some villagers won’t take jobs despite meeting all the requirements. These villagers might be nitwits, a type that cannot take any job and would remain jobless with no purpose in the game. 

How To Change Villager Jobs in Minecraft

Change Villager Job
Breaking their claimed Job Block will let villagers change their profession. (Source: Mojang)

Changing villager jobs in Minecraft is as simple as breaking their claimed Job Block. Afterward, they would revert back to a regular villager outfit. If you are wondering why the villager is not changing their jobs after breaking a Job Block, you might have traded with them at least once. This locks them to that job and you won’t be able to change it anymore.

What Is the Minecraft Villager Trade Rebalance

What Is the Minecraft Villager Trade Rebalance
The Minecraft Villager Trade Rebalance (Source: Mojang)

One of the most recent additions in Minecraft is the Villager Tade Rebalance. This option revamps the villager job system to balance their item trade pools. This is basically a nerf to some villagers who provide late-game items like Mending Enchantment, and other useful tools that are otherwise hard to acquire in the game. However, it also increased the chances of rare enchantments spawning in structures and loots. 

How To Activate or Deactivate Minecraft Villager Trade Rebalance

You can only enable Minecraft Villager Trade Rebalance on newly created worlds. Follow this step-by-step instruction to get started:

  • Create a new world in the main menu.
  • Select the More tab and click on the Experiments button.
  • Toggle the Villager Tade Rebalance on.
  • Customize your world.
  • Once you are done, click Create World to generate a new world.

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