How to Change a Villager’s Trade Offers with Data Commands in Minecraft

Getting Ready to Command

Tired of seeing the same old emerald for paper trades on your Minecraft server? Ever wished your villagers offered more valuable items or adjusted their prices to better suit your gameplay? The good news is, you can indeed customize villager trade offers far beyond what the game naturally generates, and it’s all thanks to the power of data commands!

This article is geared toward beginner and intermediate Minecraft players who want to dive a bit deeper into command mechanics and learn how to shape their villager economies. We’ll explore the fundamentals, the necessary commands, and provide clear examples for precisely adjusting villager trades to your liking. Get ready to become the master economist of your Minecraft world!

Before we can start manipulating villager inventories, there are a few essential things you need to understand and set up in your Minecraft world.

First and foremost, you need to ensure that cheats are enabled. If you are playing in single player, this is typically done when creating the world. If you’re on a server, you’ll need operator (OP) permissions to use commands. This ensures you have the necessary privileges to execute commands that alter the game world.

Next, we need to talk about command blocks. These are blocks that execute commands when activated. You can’t craft them; you can only obtain them by using a command! To give yourself a command block, use the following command in the chat: `/give @s minecraft:command_block`. Place this command block in the world. Command blocks have several settings, including:

• Impulse/Repeat/Chain: These determine how the command block executes its command (once, repeatedly, or in sequence).
• Conditional/Unconditional: Determines whether the command only runs if the previous block in a chain successfully executes.
• Needs Redstone/Always Active: Determines whether the command block needs a redstone signal to run or is always active.

We will mainly use impulse and always active for the examples in this article.

Finally, let’s explore target selectors. Target selectors are used to specify which entities (players, mobs, etc.) a command should affect. Some of the most common target selectors include:

• `@p`: The nearest player.
• `@r`: A random player.
• `@a`: All players.
• `@e`: All entities (including villagers).
• `@s`: The entity executing the command.

You can also narrow down your selection using arguments within square brackets. For example, `@e[type=villager]` will target all villagers. To further refine this, you could specify a distance, such as `@e[type=villager,distance=..5]` to target villagers within a radius of five blocks from the command block.

Understanding NBT Data

At the heart of manipulating villager trades lies understanding NBT (Named Binary Tag) data. Think of NBT data as the language Minecraft uses to store information about everything in the game, from item properties to entity characteristics. Villager trade offers are stored as NBT data, which means we can use commands to read, modify, and write this data.

NBT data is organized into different types, including:

• `int`: Whole numbers (e.g., the number of emeralds required for a trade).
• `float`: Decimal numbers (e.g., a price multiplier).
• `string`: Text (e.g., the item ID).
• `list`: A collection of other NBT tags (e.g., the list of trade offers a villager has).
• `compound`: A collection of named NBT tags (e.g., a single trade offer, containing tags for the items, price, and uses).

You can inspect a villager’s NBT data using the `/data get entity Offers.Recipes` command. This will output the villager’s current trade offers in a somewhat complex but ultimately decipherable format.

Finding and Identifying Your Target Villager

Before we can change a villager’s inventory with data, we need to reliably identify the specific villager we want to modify. There are a few ways to do this.

First, you can locate a villager and note its coordinates. The coordinates are shown using the F3 menu in most Minecraft versions. You can use these coordinates to target the villager with the command `@e[type=villager,x=X,y=Y,z=Z,distance=..1]` replacing X, Y, and Z with the villager’s coordinate values. This ensures that only the villager at those precise coordinates is affected.

If you want to target specific trade levels, use `VillagerData.level` within the target selector. For example, `@e[type=villager,VillagerData.level=5]` will target all villagers with master level trades.

A more robust method involves using a villager’s universally unique identifier, or UUID. Each entity in Minecraft has a unique UUID, ensuring that you can always target the correct one, even if its coordinates change. To get a villager’s UUID, use the following command: `/data get entity @e[type=villager,limit=1,sort=nearest] UUID`. This command targets the nearest villager and displays its UUID in the chat.

You can then use this UUID in your target selector, like this: `@e[type=villager,uuid=123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000]` (replace the example UUID with the actual UUID you obtained). This is the most reliable way to target a specific villager.

Finally, if you want complete control over a villager’s trades, you can summon one from scratch using the `/summon` command. This allows you to define its profession, type, and initial trade offers. For example, the following command summons a librarian villager: `/summon minecraft:villager ~ ~ ~ {VillagerData:{profession:”minecraft:librarian”,level:5,type:”minecraft:plains”}}`. You can also specify initial trades with the `Offers` tag, which we’ll discuss in more detail later.

Understanding the Structure of Trade Data

Now that we can target villagers, let’s delve into the structure of the data that defines their trades. The key tag is `Offers.Recipes`. This tag is a list of compound tags, where each compound tag represents a single trade offer. Each trade offer contains several important pieces of information:

• `buy`: This compound tag describes the item(s) the player needs to offer. It contains:
  • `id`: The item ID (e.g., `minecraft:emerald`).
  • `Count`: The quantity of the item.
• `buyB`: This is an optional second item the player can offer. It has the same structure as `buy`. This is used for trades that require two different items, for example, a tool and some emeralds.
• `sell`: This compound tag describes the item the villager will give the player in exchange. It also contains `id` and `Count`.
• `maxUses`: The number of times the trade can be used before it becomes unavailable.
• `uses`: The number of times the trade has already been used.
• `rewardExp`: A boolean (true/false) value indicating whether the villager gives experience when the trade is completed.
• `priceMultiplier`: A float value that adjusts the base price of the trade. For example, a value of 0.05 increases the price by five percent.

Here’s an example of a complete trade offer in NBT data format:

{buy:{id:"minecraft:paper",Count:24},sell:{id:"minecraft:emerald",Count:1},maxUses:16,uses:0,rewardExp:true}

This trade offer shows that the villager will give the player one emerald in exchange for twenty four pieces of paper.

Modifying Existing Trade Offers

Once you understand the structure of trade data, you can start modifying existing trade offers to suit your needs. The `/data merge` command is your primary tool for this. This command merges new NBT data into an existing entity’s data, allowing you to change specific aspects of a trade offer without affecting other parts.

First, inspect the villager’s current trade offers using the `/data get` command we mentioned earlier. Identify the trade you want to modify based on the items involved. Once you know which trade you want to change, craft the `/data merge` command with the corrected NBT data. For example, to change the emerald cost of the previous example trade from twenty four pieces of paper to thirty two, you would use the following command:

/data merge entity @e[type=villager,uuid=123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000] {Offers:{Recipes:[{buy:{id:"minecraft:paper",Count:32},sell:{id:"minecraft:emerald",Count:1},maxUses:16,uses:0,rewardExp:true}]}}

*Important Note:* The `Recipes` list index starts at zero. So, to modify the first trade, you target `Recipes:[{…}]`. To modify the second trade, you would need to target `Recipes:[{},{…}]` to target the right trade, and so on.

Remember to replace the UUID with the actual UUID of your villager. After executing this command, the villager will now require thirty two pieces of paper for one emerald.

Adding New Trade Offers

Adding entirely new trade offers requires a different approach. Instead of merging data, you need to use the `/data modify` command with the `append` operation. This allows you to insert a new trade offer into the `Offers.Recipes` list.

Craft the complete NBT data for the new trade offer you want to add. Then, use the following command:

/data modify entity @e[type=villager,uuid=123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000] Offers.Recipes append value {buy:{id:"minecraft:emerald",Count:5},sell:{id:"minecraft:diamond",Count:1},maxUses:8,uses:0,rewardExp:true}

This command adds a new trade offer to the villager, where they will sell one diamond in exchange for five emeralds.

Removing Trade Offers

Sometimes, you might want to completely remove a trade offer from a villager’s inventory. This can be done using `/data modify` command with the `remove` action. This removes the trade offer at the specified index from the `Offers.Recipes` list.

Inspect the current trade offers using `/data get` and identify the index of the trade you want to remove. Then, use the following command:

/data modify entity @e[type=villager,uuid=123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000] Offers.Recipes remove from 0

This command will remove the first trade offer (index zero) from the villager’s inventory.

Troubleshooting

Working with data commands can be tricky, and it’s common to encounter errors. Here are some common issues and how to resolve them:

• Syntax Errors: Ensure that your command syntax is correct, especially the NBT data. Incorrect brackets or missing commas can cause the command to fail. Online NBT editors can help validate your data.
• Targeting Issues: Make sure you’re targeting the correct villager. Using UUIDs is the most reliable method. Double-check your target selector to avoid accidentally affecting the wrong villager or no villager at all.
• Data Type Errors: Using the wrong data type (e.g., a string for a number) can cause errors. Refer back to the NBT data types and their expected formats.
• Trade Not Appearing: Villagers need to restock trades. Change the villager’s work station to get it to restock the trades.

Final Thoughts

Changing a villager’s inventory with data commands opens up a world of possibilities for customizing your Minecraft experience. By understanding the fundamentals of NBT data and the power of the `/data` command, you can create unique and engaging villager economies that perfectly suit your gameplay style. Experiment, explore, and have fun crafting your own custom villager trades! The Minecraft Wiki and online command tutorials are excellent resources for further learning. So, get out there and become the ultimate villager trade manipulator!