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Villages are very useful in Minecraft. The villagers who live here can have all sorts of professions, and you can take advantage of this in order to benefit your playthrough of the game. Building a village in Minecraft is a complex process that can take a lot of time and resources.
It takes quite a bit of effort and determination, especially if you run into trouble, like zombies, creepers, skeletons, and other types of enemies. Our guide will help you through every step of the way and walk you through the lengthy process of making your own village and getting villagers.
Updated August 1, 2023 by Jacqueline Zalace: Setting up a working village can be quite tedious. As such, we have updated this guide with even more information to help you set up the ideal Minecraft village.
Build A Few Houses
You will have to build a few houses before starting this process, as this is where your villagers sleep. For the game to consider a building to be an actual house, at least one bed has to be placed inside. Of course, you can make bigger houses and place multiple beds inside. It depends on how many villagers you want in your village.
Since villagers will only breed if there are beds for themselves and for the babies, you need to craft and place extra beds in your village. To craft a bed, you just need the following materials.
- 3x Wool (matching colors)
- 3x Plank (any type)
Getting Your First Villagers
The next step in this process is probably the most complicated one. The first villagers are the hardest to obtain because it all comes down to luck. This is because there are only two ways to get your villagers. You can either do it by curing zombie villagers that spawn near your base or kidnapping villagers that already live in a village.
Next, we are going to talk about both of these villager acquisition methods in detail.
Kidnapping Villagers From Another Village
This process requires the least amount of resources and luck. However, it can be dull and time-consuming. Plus, depending on how distant the nearest village is, you might have to fight off monsters as you take the villager to your base. You might even have to go through the Nether to reduce the distance between your starting location and your destination.
You will only need to kidnap two villagers, as they will breed more. If you want to speed up the process though, you can kidnap a few more.
Kidnapping By Water
If the village you are targeting is along the water, you can kidnap the villagers by boat.
You can force villagers into a boat by pushing them or driving the boat into the villager. The villager will not escape unless the boat is broken, so you can travel great distances this way.
Keep in mind that even though boats work on land, they're extremely slow and can only go on flat ground. Even a dirt block that has a path on it can be an obstacle for the simple boat.
Kidnapping By Land
If, on the other hand, you are trying to transport villagers on land, you can use minecarts instead. By pushing a villager into a minecart, they will be stuck similarly to how they are in boats. Now, you just need to lay down some rails and send the villager along the track.
This can be done with redstone and powered rails, but you can also use a minecart with furnace that has a bit of coal in it. When you put coal inside, the furnace will act as an engine, pushing the villager minecart along the track.
Nether Shortcut
Both of the above methods can be combined with a Nether shortcut. To do this, all you need to do is build a Nether Portal and send your villager through it. If you are using a boat, be sure that the bottom of the portal lines up with the ground, since boats can't go up a block.
Once on the other side, you just need to continue your journey in the direction of your base. Remember, one block in the Nether is equal to eight blocks in the Overworld.
Curing A Zombie Villager
Although this method is technically faster, you do need to have a few specific items stored away beforehand. Plus, zombie villagers will rarely spawn, so you need to be quite lucky for one to spawn so you can then cure it.
Prior to beginning the curing process, you will first need the following items.
- Splash Potion of Weakness
- Golden Apple
From here, use the splash potion and then feed them the Golden Apple while they are under the effects of the potion. After a short period of time, they will transform into a normal villager.
Be sure to do this process under a roof. When it becomes day, any zombie villager under the sun will burn and disappear.
Breeding Villagers
Villagers will breed whenever they are willing to. Certain conditions must be met for this to happen.
Villagers must have 12 beetroots, 12 carrots, 12 potatoes, or three bread in their inventories to be willing to breed. Only one type of food requirement must be satisfied.
Throw the items at the villagers, and they will pick them up. Alternatively, make Farmers out of your villagers - these will grow, collect, and even share food with their neighbors. Eventually, they will breed and create a baby villager, as long as an accessible bed is nearby.
The more food a villager has, the more likely they are to breed.
To make a village, keep repeating this process with the villagers once they grow into adult villagers. Growth will happen much faster since you won't have to go out and collect more villagers.
Villager Professions
There are 15 types of villagers in Minecraft. Villagers can either be unemployed or nitwit villagers, and then there are 13 different professions. Nitwit villagers can't acquire professions, but unemployed villagers can if they have access to a workstation.
A villager will become employed by claiming a workstation block as their own. Only one villager can claim any individual workstation block. Workstation blocks can only be claimed if they are close enough, within the village's boundaries.
These are all the villager professions in the game, according to their workstation.
According to your needs, you can have any of these villagers. Once you trade with a villager, it won't be able to change professions later, and it will remain locked, so make sure you get the trades you want.
Keeping Your Villagers Safe
With houses, workstations, and villagers ready to go, it's time to set up your village. Overall, you can decorate your village however you want; let your imagination run wild!
In addition to decorating the area, it's important that you keep your villagers safe. To do so, be sure to enclose your village area with fences or tall walls. This will prevent monsters from entering.
To prevent monsters from spawning inside the village, it's important to keep it well-lit. Monsters will spawn if there is no light present, so you can maintain a dimly lit village with torches, lanterns, candles, and other blocks that give off a glow.
If you aren't sure how safe your village is, try finding a higher area to look down and watch your village. When night falls, take note of any monsters or dark areas that threaten the safety of your village.
If you have an area that is dark, but you don't want to ruin the vibe, consider placing normal or moss carpets and half slabs. Nothing will be able to spawn here, allowing you to have a safe and dark area.