How to get cocoa beans in Minecraft Skyblock

Minecraft's popularized Skyblock survival maps are as intense as they are addicting. They put players on a suspended island in the sky with few resources to work with.

Growing any form of crops is difficult, especially ones from other biomes. For example, cocoa beans are a tricky find, as jungle biomes aren't immediately available.

Depending on the Skyblock map, some rare seeds may be provided in the lone chest at the game's startup, but this isn't the case for many other Skyblock iterations.

The version of Minecraft being played also influences the process of acquiring cocoa beans in standard Skyblock. While some Skyblock multiplayer servers such as Hypixel have addressed certain rare resource shortages, single-player Skyblock can be a different story.

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Getting cocoa beans in Minecraft Skyblock

Cocoa beans are a tricky find, as jungle biomes aren't immediately available (Image via Mojang)

Sadly for Minecraft: Java Edition players, the easiest form of acquiring cocoa beans in Skyblock was patched out in the game's 1.6 update. Before the update, players could trade with villagers to acquire cocoa beans. However, this is no longer the case. Fortunately, there is still hope for players of Minecraft's Bedrock Edition.

In Bedrock Edition, players without access to a jungle biome can get a few cocoa beans if they're lucky. While cocoa beans tend to grow on Minecraft's naturally-occurring jungle trees (planted ones won't naturally spawn cocoa pods), Bedrock players can obtain them from the Wandering Trader. Additionally, when fishing in a jungle biome, there is a small chance that players will catch cocoa beans as a "trash" item. For players who are just starting their Skyblock adventures, the Wandering Trader may be the best bet.

Many Skyblock maps have accounted for the lack of cocoa obtainability in Java Edition, so map choice matters. Certain maps may not give Java players access to cocoa or a jungle biome, leaving them essentially out of options.

For Bedrock players hoping to trade with the Wandering Trader, it will come down to a little bit of luck. This particular mob spawns randomly, and his inventory doesn't stay static.

There's no guaranteed way of spawning a Wandering Trader in vanilla Minecraft Survival Mode. However, the game's code attempts to spawn one at regular intervals during gameplay.

If a Wandering Trader does not exist on the game map, the game will try to spawn one every 20 real-world minutes (one standard day in Minecraft) until it is successful. Having a village bell is a plus, as the trader can spawn close to them. However, this doesn't tend to apply to most Skyblock maps.

The good news for Minecraft players is that once the Wandering Trader does spawn, he will be within 48 blocks of the player's vicinity. Once he appears in earnest, it just comes down to trading with him every time he appears and hoping that his randomized trade inventory will have cocoa beans. For the price of one Emerald, the Wandering Trader will part with three of his cocoa beans.

To avoid relying on the Wandering Trader, players who have secured a few cocoa beans should definitely set up a farm for them. This will avoid supply shortages and headaches in the future.

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