How to repopulate a village in Minecraft

Guide to repopulating villages (Image via Mojang)
Guide to repopulating villages (Image via Mojang)

If left poorly defended, some Minecraft villages will be completely wiped out. Hostile mobs like zombies and illagers are always on the hunt for innocent villagers. Because of this, players may often discover villages with houses but no villagers.

Luckily, if players ever run into a situation where they want to repopulate a wiped village, they have a few options. Listed below are the best ways to bring life back to a ransacked village in Minecraft.


Minecraft guide: Repopulate a village

Kidnapping a villager

Oh, the horror! (Image via Minecraft)
Oh, the horror! (Image via Minecraft)

While it sounds terrible if thought about for too long, villagers can be kidnapped from another village and brought to the empty one.

For easier extraction, players must hope they have a body of water close to the village. Players must shove a villager into a boat and steer off towards the empty village. If there isn't a body of water nearby, players will have to finagle their boat onto the land and push the villager into it there.

Fortunately, villagers will not leave the boat until it is broken. This is the easiest way to repopulate a village currently. Another method involves using a minecart. However, it's challenging to transport villagers across oceans and rivers. Players must construct a bridge and lay down rail tracks to move the villagers to their new home.

When bringing villagers, ensure you have at least two. These newcomers will require two beds to begin their new lives. Establish a farm for one of the villagers and turn them into a farmer by placing a composter nearby. This village will continually grow crops, sharing them with other villagers. Over time, they'll start to breed, resulting in the birth of a baby villager. To facilitate this, players must provide additional beds in the village.


Curing a Zombie villager

Run! Oh wait you cant... (Image via Minecraft)
Run! Oh wait you cant... (Image via Minecraft)

If players who have some morals don't want to steal a villager from their home, they can choose the altruistic path and cleanse a Zombie villager.

Zombie villagers have certain areas where they will definitely spawn. However, they also will spawn randomly, much like regular zombies. Players can dig a ditch around an empty village and wait for a Zombie villager to fall in.

To cure a Zombie villager, players must throw a Splash Potion of Weakness at them and then give them a Golden Apple. More specifically, they must be under the Weakness effect and then be given a golden apple. After they're cured, players can then transport the villager to the village of their choice.

Similar to before, players will need to transform a villager into a farmer to cultivate crops for the other villagers. Over time, this will lead to the birth of a baby villager and contribute to the growth of the village.