How to breed Minecraft villagers in 2023

New players are often surprised by the diversity of the Minecraft world. Mobs are one of the most important parts of Minecraft that make the game a lot more fun.

For multiple reasons, villagers are one of the most useful passive mobs in the game. What makes this mob even better is that they can be found very easily, as many Overworld biomes have villages. In a handful of different ways, players can acquire useful items from villagers.

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Breeding villagers in Minecraft

Like a few other mobs, villagers can also be bred by the player. However, the process of doing so is slightly different.

As expected, players need the mob's choice of food, which for villagers are bread, carrots, potatoes, and beetroots. However, simply handing out these food items to two villagers does not do the trick.

Two beds also need to be placed close to them, and even then, they might not breed. Once the two villagers have bred, they cannot breed again for a few minutes.

Sometimes having two beds will not be enough as the villagers may think there aren't enough beds for the other villagers to sleep on. Players can try putting down more beds to improve their chances.

If the player is having trouble giving food to two villagers because they keep running away, they can create a small ditch and get two villagers inside of it. Then, they can put down multiple beds and give bread to the villagers. Eventually, the villagers will breed.

An automatic villager breeder in Minecraft. (Image via Mojang)

If a villager has excess food, it will throw it at other nearby villagers, and they can start breeding. Players can take advantage of this game mechanic to set up fully automatic villager breeders where the villagers harvest crops, share them with each other, and eventually breed.

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What are villagers good for?

(1) Trading

A naturally spawned farmer villager. (Image via Mojang)

A regular villager may not seem all that useful, however, by placing a job site block next to it, players can convert it into a trader. Traders are extremely useful villagers that offer various items in exchange for other items and emeralds. Players may naturally find a few traders in the village.

Here's a list of traders and their job site blocks in Minecraft:

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

It is worth noting that nitwits cannot be converted into traders. These villagers wear green robes, which makes them quite easy to identify. Trading is a great way of acquiring items, but it isn’t always efficient. Sometimes the trader may offer useful items at a reasonable price.

In cases like this, players can zombify the trader by having a zombie attack it and then cure it. Doing so will result in the trader lowering his prices. However, if a player hits a trader, the trader may increase the cost of their wares.

(2) Farming

A villager breeder and crop farm (Image via Mojang)

Villagers can also be used to create fully automatic crop farms with the help of a few redstone items. These farms are great food generators and are a must-have in every Minecraft world.