Every Minecraft villager job explained, and how to change them

Villagers in Minecraft can perform all sorts of tasks, but their job will determine exactly what they can do.

The Minecraft world can seem lonely at times, but finding a village can both keep you company and open up new trading and farming opportunities. Luckily for players, villagers can change jobs depending on certain circumstances. Here’s every type of Minecraft villager explained.

How to change Minecraft villager jobs

To change a villager’s job, you must first identify their job block. This varies from job to job. For example, farmers use composters, leatherworkers use cauldrons, and armorers use blast furnaces. If you destroy these blocks, the village will become unemployed. If you provide it with a new job block reasonably close to the village, the villager will immediately assume their profession.

Armorer

Armorer villagers hang around blast furnaces decked out in blacksmithing gloves and goggles. As their name implies, armorer villagers can trade armor for emeralds. Once they reach master level, they can even sell enchanted diamond chest plates and pants. This makes them one of the most consistent sources of diamond gear in the game, but they don’t come cheap.

Butcher

Minecraft butcher villagers wear a red sweatband with a white apron. Minecraftvillagers with butcher jobs will accept emeralds for cooked food.

In addition to selling meat for emeralds, experienced butchers will actually give emeralds to the player in exchange for raw meats. This makes them an excellent source of above-ground emeralds.

Cartographer

Cartographers are Minecraft’s local map-makers. They live up to their title by selling blank maps starting at level two. With more experience, they will start selling blank banners that the player can customize. At the highest level, they sell banner patterns that can alter banner shapes when applied using a loom. To find a cartographer, look for villagers wearing golden monocles.

Cleric

Clerics are Minecraft’s villager version of a priest. They deal with magical ingredients like Rotten Flesh, Rabbit’s Feet, and Bottles o’ Enchanting. They’re also an excellent source of ender pearls once they reach a high level. If you’re in need of a cleric villager, look for citizens wearing purple robes. 

Farmer

You can recognize a farmer Minecraft villager by its distinctive straw hat and overalls. Farmer villagers have the unique ability to pick up and use bone meal. They can also utilize composters, which can be very useful for clever players. The farmer village can be used for a bunch of different applications, including an automatic food farm. 

Fisherman

Minecraft fisherman villagers wear straw hats similar to farmers but with hemmed brims instead of frayed. They hang around barrels. Once they have enough experience, Minecraft fishermen will give out emeralds to any player who gives them boats. Converting wood into a rare resource makes fishermen incredibly useful even for experienced players.

Fletcher

Minecraft villagers with fletcher jobs wear brown archer’s hats with a feather sticking out. These mobs trade items related to archery like arrows and crossbows.

At the highest experience level, fletchers will sell one of 15 different types of tipped arrows. These apply potion effects at range. Keep in mind that Infinity-enchanted bows will still consume tipped arrows when fired.

Leatherworker

Leatherworking isn’t a very useful villager job in Minecraft. They sell leather gear including horse armor and saddles, but their most useful trait is their willingness to trade emeralds for bundles of flint. Leatherworkers will also purchase scutes from the player in case you don’t feel like crafting potions of the Turtle Master and reducing your movement speed to a crawl.

Librarian

Librarian villagers can be identified by their bright red hats. They have the unique and incredibly interesting trait of staring at bookshelves when they are available. That’s the closest they can get to actually reading or managing books. At the highest level, librarians can trade for name tags and enchanted books.

Mason

Masons, or stone masons, are the most useful villagers for acquiring rare building materials. At high levels, they will sell Colored Terracotta or Glazed Terracotta in a bunch of different colors.

Before that, they can still sell useful materials like bricks and polished stone. Masons are the only Minecraft villager job to have a different name across platforms. On Bedrock Edition, they are called stone masons.

Nitwit

Nitwits are Minecraft’s villager interpretation of bums. They cannot trade and do not perform any actions aside from wandering around and grunting at the player. These mobs don’t really offer anything of value to themselves or their community. Nitwits even go to sleep and wake up later than everyone else. If you’re trying to create an automatic villager farm, make sure to not grab anyone wearing a green shirt.

Shepherd

These Minecraft villagers sell almost everything related to sheep. You can trade emeralds for beds, carpets, colored wool, blank banners, and even paintings at max level.

To find shepherd villagers, look for their distinct brown hats. They actually have a pixel of missing texture, which the above image shows. Shepherds tend to gather around looms during the day.

Toolsmith

Toolsmiths are a great way to refresh the gear in your inventory. They work their way up the ladder just like the player, starting with stone tools, then iron, and finally diamond. Once they become master toolsmiths, villagers will sell enchanted diamond pickaxes for as little as 18 emeralds. They will also purchase 15 coal for one emerald starting at level one. This makes them an excellent source of emeralds throughout the game. 

Weaponsmith

The final Minecraft villager job is weaponsmith. These mobs sell weapons in a similar manner as the toolsmith. Once fully upgraded, villagers with the weaponsmith job will sell diamond axes and pickaxes. They also sell bells once they become journeymen. It’s possible that weaponsmiths also play some role in the creation of iron golems.