Minecraft Villager Job Blocks: Every Profession and Workstation

There are 13 villager professions, and villager job blocks decide which one a villager gets. These blocks are also called job site blocks or workstations. Place one near an unemployed adult villager and it claims the block and takes the matching profession. Here is the full list, as of Java 26.3.

The trade column is a summary of what each profession is known for, not a price list. Trade contents come from Mojang's own villager-jobs article (published August 2025) and the Minecraft Wiki, and they can shift between releases. This page states no prices.

How many villager professions are there?

The Minecraft Wiki counts 13 jobs, not including unemployed and nitwit. Those two are states with no job block. An unemployed villager is simply one that hasn't claimed a site yet. A nitwit never will (more on that below).

One quirk: a leatherworker's job block is the Cauldron, but per the wiki it can work at any cauldron, and the cauldron doesn't need water in it.

How a villager claims a job block

Only unemployed adult villagers take jobs. Babies are unemployed and can't change profession; a baby villager becomes an adult 20 minutes after birth. Nitwits can't take jobs either.

On Java, the process works like this, per the wiki:

1. An awake, unemployed villager searches for the nearest unclaimed job block within a 48-block sphere.
2. It starts pathfinding to the block, which stakes a provisional claim. If it can't get there within 60 seconds, the claim is released and it may try again straight away.
3. When it gets within 2 blocks of the block's center, the claim is complete and the villager takes the matching profession.
4. A fully claimed block makes its owner emit green particles. No other villager can claim it unless the owner gives it up.

Employed villagers go back to their job block to refresh trades. The wiki says working resupplies locked trades twice a day.

Why won't my villager take a job?

• It's a baby or a nitwit. Neither can take a profession.
• It already has a profession and has been traded with. It will only claim a block matching the profession it already has.
• Another villager owns the block. Claimed blocks can't be taken.
• It can't path to the block. The wiki says a villager that can't reach a block shows angry particles, and after several failures the claim is dropped. Villagers open wooden and copper doors but not trapdoors, fence gates or iron doors. So a job block sealed behind one of those is a likely culprit. That last step is our deduction from the pathfinding rule, not a wiki statement.

How to change a villager's profession

You change a profession by changing its job block, and only before the villager has completed a trade.

1. Break the villager's claimed job block. A villager with no trades behind it switches to another profession or becomes unemployed.
2. Place the job block of the profession you want somewhere the villager can walk to.
3. Wait for it to claim the block and check the new trades.

The wiki is explicit about the lock: once a player has traded with a villager, it keeps its profession forever. After that, breaking the block just makes it look for a matching one. It can't switch to a different job. The wiki's wording is "prior trades", so complete a trade only when you're happy with the offers. We haven't found a source saying that merely opening the trade window locks it, so we don't claim that either way.

This is also how you "force" a profession change: the job block is the only lever, and only until the first trade. For the full reroll-until-it-offers-what-you-want routine, including cells and beds, see our villager trading hall guide. We won't repeat it here.

Which villager professions are best?

There's no official ranking, and Mojang's own "villagers ranked" article is a joke piece, not data. Common community advice, tied to the trades above:

• Librarian: the usual first pick, because enchanted books include treasure enchantments like Mending. Our Mending guide covers that route. If you'd rather enchant gear yourself, see enchanting table setup.
• Armorer, weaponsmith, toolsmith: enchanted diamond armor (armorer) and enchanted diamond axes and swords (weaponsmith) at higher levels, plus enchanted axes, shovels and pickaxes from the toolsmith. That's gear without enchanting it yourself.
• Fletcher: a cheap way to turn sticks into emeralds to fund the rest, since fletchers buy sticks. Farmers are worth having for golden carrots.

The wiki also notes villagers can sell items that are otherwise difficult or impossible to obtain, like chainmail armor and bottles o' enchanting.

Nitwits and baby villagers

Nitwits wear robes that are green on top. They can't change profession, trade or gather around bells, but they can still breed. On Java, a nitwit has to be born or spawned: no villager turns into or out of one. The wiki says that due to a bug nitwits don't come from breeding on Java. They're found naturally or by curing naturally spawned zombie villagers.

Trading needs an adult villager with a profession. On Java, nitwits, unemployed villagers and babies bob their head and grunt instead.

Bedrock differences

This page is about Java. Per the wiki, Bedrock claims job blocks differently: villagers search a 16-block radius, and an unemployed villager with a bed can take the profession "regardless of the distance or accessibility". Bedrock nitwits can come from breeding, because every baby has a 10% chance of growing up as one. Don't carry Java's claim rules over to Bedrock.

FAQ

How many villager professions are there?

13, plus the job-less unemployed and nitwit states.

What block makes a librarian?

The Lectern. The wiki lists its recipe as any wooden slab plus a bookshelf. Empty lecterns also generate in village libraries.

Why won't my villager take a job?

It's a baby or nitwit, it's already locked into another profession by trading, the block is already claimed, or it can't reach it. See the checklist above.

Can nitwits work?

No. They can't take a job or trade.