How to change a Villager's profession in Minecraft

Villagers with various professions in Minecraft. (Image via Minecraft.net)
Villagers with various professions in Minecraft. (Image via Minecraft.net)

Minecraft players can change the profession of a villager by first ensuring a villager is unemployed, and then providing a new job site block that corresponds to any desired profession.

Villagers are the passive mobs that populate the various villages that can be found throughout the world of Minecraft. These mobs are often harmless, and can be great trading partners when they are employed with a profession.

Not all villagers will have jobs when players first encounter them naturally, but they can be heavily encouraged to take up a profession with a little help from players. All players really needs to do is provide the right job site block for any given profession.

This article will be breaking down how Minecraft players can change the profession of a villager into any desired profession.


How to change a Villager's profession in Minecraft

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Villagers in Minecraft typically fall into one of three major categories when it comes to employment. They will either be unemployed, employed, or a nitwit.

Nitwits will refuse to take on any profession and can not become employed, regardless of how much a player may try to encourage them to work. These mobs can often be identified by the all green robes that they wear, so when they are encountered it is best to just leave them alone.

All other villagers will either be employed or unemployed. Employed villagers can be easily recognized by their significant change in appearance. Villagers will appear to be wearing equipment that someone who has their given profession would wear.

As an example farmers can be identified by their straw hat, which makes sense that they would wear. Farmers often work long hours in their fields tending to their crops, and a straw hat would protect them from the sun's rays and the heat.

An image that depicts every profession a villager can hold and their corresponding job site block can be found below.

All variations of employed Minecraft villagers with their corresponding job site blocks. (Image via u/CubesTheGamer/reddit.com)
All variations of employed Minecraft villagers with their corresponding job site blocks. (Image via u/CubesTheGamer/reddit.com)

In order to make sure that a villager takes on a desired profession, players first need to understand all of the various professions that a villager can have.

There are 13 villager professions that all have a corresponding job site block. The different professions and their job site blocks are as follows:

  1. Armorer - Blast Furnace
  2. Butcher - Smoker
  3. Cartographer - Cartography Table
  4. Cleric - Brewing Stand
  5. Farmer - Composter
  6. Fisherman - Barrel
  7. Fletcher - Fletching Table
  8. Leatherworker - Cauldron
  9. Librarian - Lectern
  10. Stone Mason / Mason - Stonecutter
  11. Shepherd - Loom
  12. Toolsmith - Smithing Table
  13. Weaponsmith - Grindstone

Now that all of that information is out the way, it's time to answer how players can change the profession of villager.

Players will first need to determine what villagers they are looking to gently push into a new profession. If a player wanted to change a cleric into a librarian, they would first need to destroy the cleric villager's brewing stand.

The villager will not be happy with the player's actions, but will eventually become unemployed. Once this happens, Minecraft players can place down a lectern near the now unemployed villager. Eventually, that villager will take up the librarian profession and can be traded with for new goods.

Essentially, players will need to first eliminate the job site block of an employed villager and then replace it with the job site block of any new desired profession.

Unemployed villagers can be directly encouraged to take up a profession by simply providing the right job site block.