Why Star Trader is one of the most difficult advancements in Minecraft

There are several achievements and advancements in Minecraft. The only difference between the two is which platform they're on and how many of them are present.

Achievements are for Bedrock Edition, and there's a lot more of them. Advancements are for Java Edition, though many of them cross over between the two editions.

One of those that crosses over for both platforms was just introduced in the 1.18 update. The update introduced four brand new achievements/advancements, one of which is "Star Trader." Here's what players will need to do and why it is considered one of the most difficult in the game.

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The Minecraft Star Trader advancement: What it is and why it's so difficult to complete

Star Trader is one of over 70 advancements currently available in Minecraft. Each update introduces a few more, so when The Wild update is released, more will be added.

Given that the 1.18 update literally brought the game to new heights, the advancements introduced in it have a lot to do with that. That makes them pretty difficult, arguably one of the most difficult batches to complete.

The in-game description for the advancement reads:

"Trade with a villager at the build height limit."

It can be challenging for one player alone to get to the build limit (the Minecraft Wiki states that standing on Y level 318 will suffice for the advancement). Getting a villager there, too, is even more challenging. Villagers don't exactly listen to instructions or go where players want them to.

Star Trader (Image via Mojang)

They can't be put on a lead or guided with food items. Many gamers who have tried to make a villager farm have experienced these difficulties as they are one of the most challenging mobs to move from place to place.

Spawn eggs would make this a lot easier, but those are only allowed in Creative, which disables achievements or advancements. The same can be said for commands.

There are two primary ways of getting villagers to move where gamers want them to: boats or minecarts. Boats are usually easier to use, since they don't require anything but water to travel.

However, going to the build limit with water and a boat is much more difficult than using a minecart. That's saying something, given how many blocks and powered rails will be needed to pull that off.

At the build limit, it's best to have a platform and job block waiting. When the player and the villager arrive, the latter will pick up that job and players can trade with them.

After completing the advancement, there's no real reason to continue operating at the build limit, so it might be beneficial to bring the villager back down the same way.

A few advancements, such as Two Birds One Arrow and Arbalistic, give XP points upon completion, but Star Trader is not one of them. It does get logged for Minecraft players, but there's no in-game reward for completing it.

On Bedrock Edition, there is a gamerscore that increases with every achievement in every game, but that's not for Java Edition.

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