Villager Trading Halls

There’s quite a few different designs for trading halls in Minecraft out there usually using the small cells that the villagers are kept in to keep them safe and convenient. I’ve built a few like that but wanted to do something different for this world. To fit with the style of our builds and the world we are playing in I decided to make this one an Adventurer’s Guild where people can stop to restock and trade before heading out. Depending on how many villagers you need in your trading hall the cell method may be a better choice to organize them. For this I simply wanted to main villager trades for enchanted books and equipment. I also added stations for villagers we want to sell to for the rotten meat and sticks that we use for our main emerald farming.

Design and Layout

For the building design we went with a medieval inn and tavern style build. A stone tower to the side connected with a walkway gives a space for the blacksmiths and armorer areas.

While we are not using the cell design to trap the villagers I did want to keep the villagers organized and safe. To keep them in I built stalls and bar type areas with the workstations either inside the area or as part of the bar keeping them in. This groups them by type and allows them to access their stations to restock their trades.

Villager Stalls

For the villager stalls we decorated each with some of the items they could trade on item frames and armor stands around their area. When we did the cartographers station and added some maps that gave me the idea for decorating the more open parts of the buildings. What’s one of the main things used in a RPG adventure? Maps of course! So we setup an area with tables and maps laid out. This gave it the feel of a prepping spot to plan and gear up for the next adventure. Maps of the area and a few treasure maps to break up the visual style worked out great.

Villager Discounts

With all the work setting up the guild hall I also wanted to make sure it was easy to grab whatever we needed (and cheaply of course). So time to zombify a few villagers for curing. This isn’t much to look at but it functioned well. There’s a small villager breeder area over to the side with two farmers that links to the back of the curing station. The sticky piston in the floor is where I placed the villager workstation. Flipping the lever moves the station resetting the trades.

Cycle through a few times until the trade is the one we want, then trade with the villager to lock him in. Next bring a zombie over to convert him to a zombie villager. After curing the discounts are permanent.

Below are some links to videos that have the process in more detail.

Protecting the Villagers

While having the villagers inside the hall and well lit keeps them pretty well protected there could always be zombies spawning close enough to detect them and break down the doors. With myself and the kids both playing on this world we are not the best at making sure to sleep at night, especially if we are down in the tunnels or farms. First step was to light up the area, including the small lake nearby. Using slabs to hide a lot of the lights and sea pickles in the water we brought the light level up enough to prevent spawns right by the trading hall. Just in case something does wander close by an Iron Golem guard patrols the entrance. With the walls and fence posts in the entrance areas he stays close and we can run in and out without having to mess with any redstone or iron doors.

Final Details

To finish it out we also built a stable area to hold the horses while travelers are inside. Decorations were mostly done in setting up the villager trading areas but we also added vines and trees to the area. The chimney on the roof is trapdoors with an opening to the fireplace on the second floor to allow the smoke to come out through the roof. Hopefully this gives you all a few ideas for your own trading hall builds. It’s a bit different as I usually do the more compact way but it’s nice to build some lore and adventure into the world to keep it interesting. Also if you need far more villagers a basement could always be added with cells for villagers that are traded with less often or that are needed in bulk (looking at you rotten flesh).

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