10 best villager trades in Minecraft 1.21

Minecraft villager trading is probably the most powerful system that players have access to, and Mojang is even experimenting with revamping the feature. There are a triple-digit number of trades spread across the different villager professions, which can make it hard to know what to prioritize hunting for.

Listed below are 10 of the best villager trades available to players as of 1.21, along with what makes them so powerful.

Note: This list is subjective and solely reflects the opinions of the writer

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10 of the best Minecraft villager trades as of 1.21

1) Emeralds for enchanted books

Villagers can offer any number of enchanted books (Image via Mojang)

The best Minecraft villager trade is for enchanted books. Librarian villagers, which use a lectern as their workstation, are able to trade the enchanted books of all enchantments, other than soul speed, swift sneak, and wind burst. Each villager will eventually get a total of four enchanted book trades, making each one incredibly valuable.

Specifically, villager trading is one of the only ways players can gain access to mending, which is widely considered to be one of the best enchantments in Minecraft. It's able to convert experience earned into durability on the enchanted item, making god gear essentially impossible to lose outside of lava.

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2) Sticks for emeralds

The stick trade available from fletcher villagers (Image via Mojang)

Sticks are a very easy item to get in huge numbers, due to a single log being able to make a total of eight of them. This is what makes the 32-stick trade with fletcher villagers for an emerald so great.

Four logs can be converted straight into an emerald, which can be used for other great trades. Additionally, automatic wood Minecraft farms can give players nearly infinite wood to fuel this trade.

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3) Pumpkins or melons for emeralds

Farmers have access to both pumpkin and melon trades (Image via Mojang)

Pumpkin and melon trades are almost identical; they are both full-block crops that can be farmed automatically using observers and pistons, which is why they share a spot.

The only difference is that the pumpkin trade unlocks at level two, while melons unlock at level three. However, no matter the crop, being able to trade six pumpkins or four melons for an emerald is a great deal.

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4) Rotten flesh for emeralds

One of rotten flesh's only uses is in villager trading (Image via Mojang)

Rotten flesh is one of the worst items in the game, which makes the fact that clerics will give players emeralds for it quite handy. This makes zombie monster rooms incredible for fueling Minecraft villager trading halls, in addition to XP farms.

Normally, the rotten flesh they produced would be next to worthless, which is what makes this trade so great.

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5) Emeralds for redstone

Redstone is easy to get in large number through clerics (Image via Mojang)

Minecraft's redstone is one of its most powerful resources. This pseudo-electrical system is able to make totally automated farms, TNT cannons, and even flying machines possible.

Many of these builds use a large amount of redstone, which can make it hard to mine enough of the resource. Thankfully, clerics will trade players two redstone for an emerald, helping in the construction of these builds.

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6) Emeralds for explorer maps

An ocean explorer map trade (Image via Mojang)

Cartographer villagers might seem unassuming at first, but they're actually a very useful type of villager. This is due to the three explorer maps they trade. At the apprentice level, they will offer an ocean explorer map, and at the journeyman level, they will offer either a woodland explorer map or a Minecraft trial chamber explorer map.

These maps mark the nearest of these structures, making them much easier to find than they otherwise would be. Woodland mansions and trial chambers in particular are hard to find as they only spawn in a single biome and are found underground, respectively.

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7) Raw cod or salmon for emeralds

The fisherman trade for raw salmon (Image via Mojang)

Raw cod and salmon trade in a similar way to pumpkins and melons, which is also why they share a spot.

Players can trade 15 raw cod or 13 raw salmon for an emerald. While this might seem like a bad rate, Minecraft's AFK fish farms actually make this quite a cheap trade in the long run.

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8) String for emeralds

Fishermen also offer string trades (Image via Mojang)

The final of the best "resource for emerald" type trades sees players give 20 string in return for an emerald. What makes this trade so great is that, similar to rotten flesh, string is easy to get in large numbers by killing hostile Minecraft mobs.

There are two different structures that can have spider spawners: monster rooms and abandoned mineshafts.

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9) Emeralds for enderpearl

The cleric trade for ender pearls (Image via Mojang)

Enderpearls are one of only a handful of items required to beat Minecraft. They're needed to craft the eyes of ender needed to open the portal to the end dimension. The only way to get ender pearls other than trading is by killing endermen, a rare mob that only drops them some of the time. What makes this trade so useful is being able to reliably get ender pearls.

Cleric villagers appeared several times on this list, for good reason. They are one of the best types of villagers to train up due to the abuandance of amazing trades they offer. Outside of librarians, clerics should be one of the first villagers added to a trading hall.

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10) Emeralds for bookshelves

A bookshelf librarian trade (Image via Mojang)

Librarians have a few other useful trades outside of enchanted books. One of the best of these trades is nine emeralds for a single bookshelf.

This is a great way to set up a Minecraft enchanting area without having access to cows or leather. In worlds with large desert spawns, for example, this can be one of the only ways to get the bookshelves needed.