What does the leatherworker trade?

The leatherworker buys leather, flint, rabbit hide, and scutes for emeralds, and sells leather armor pieces, leather horse armor, and a saddle. It is the profession built around raw animal drops.

What workstation turns a villager into a leatherworker?

A cauldron placed near an unemployed villager assigns the leatherworker job. Remove the cauldron and the villager loses the job and its trades.

Why is the leather armor a different color on every leatherworker?

Leatherworker trades are biome specific. The leather gear this villager sells is tinted to the biome the village generated in, not a color chosen by the player, so the same trade looks different from village to village. Leather horse armor is the exception and always comes out untinted.

How many levels does it take to unlock every leatherworker trade?

Five, from Novice to Master. The villager needs to complete enough trades to earn trading experience at each level before the next tier of offers unlocks.

Is the leatherworker really the only source of a saddle?

Saddles have no crafting recipe, so a leatherworker at Master selling one for 6 emeralds is one of the only reliable, repeatable sources in the game outside of rare loot chests.

Does a Novice leatherworker always buy leather and sell both armor pieces?

Not necessarily. That tier draws its visible offers from a larger pool of possibilities, so a given villager might only show some of them. Check its trade list before assuming it buys or sells a specific item.

What is the fastest way to make emeralds from a leatherworker?

Selling raw leather is the simplest route, 6 leather for an emerald at Novice. Rabbit hide works the same way at Journeyman without needing to be crafted into leather first.

What is the cheapest item a leatherworker sells?

Leather Leggings at 1 emeralds is the least expensive sale on the list.

What is the most expensive item a leatherworker sells?

Leather Leggings at 1 emeralds sits at the top of the price list, tied with any other trade at the same rate.

How often does a leatherworker restock its trades?

Up to 2 times a day, and only if the villager can path to its cauldron and work it. Each individual offer also has its own use limit before that particular trade needs a restock, separate from the villager's level.

LEATHERWORKER

Workstation: Cauldron|12 trades across 5 levelsBiome-specific

Sells leather armor (dyed by biome), saddles, and leather horse armor. Buys leather, flint, and rabbit hide.

Last checked: 26 September 2026
Java Edition: 26.3, 12 of 12 rows found
Bedrock Edition: 1.26.50.4, 5 of 12 matching
Edition differences: 2 pay different villager XP, 7 rolled, not comparable

What is the Leatherworker?

The leatherworker works the cauldron and turns animal drops into armor. It buys 6 leather for an emerald at the lowest tier, but the raw materials it wants change every level: flint at Apprentice, rabbit hide at Journeyman, then scutes. Leather comes off cows and similar mobs, flint comes from mining gravel, rabbit hide comes off rabbits, and scutes come off baby turtles growing up, so keeping this villager fed is a mix of hunting, mining, and patience rather than one farm you can run on repeat.

This is also one of the few professions the game flags as biome dependent. The leather armor it sells is tinted to match the biome the trade was generated in, not a color you pick, so a leatherworker in a savanna village hands over different colored gear than one in a taiga. Leather horse armor is the one exception on the sell list, it comes out untinted regardless of biome.

The trade list also repeats itself: the leather tunic sale appears at both Novice and Journeyman for the same 7 emeralds, and the leather cap sale repeats between Apprentice and Master at the same price too. Leveling this villager past those tiers does not make the repeated item more expensive, it just adds a second chance to land the offer. That is worth knowing since the lowest two tiers do not guarantee every listed offer: Novice shows only 2 of 3 possible slots, and Apprentice shows 2 of 3, roughly a 67% chance for any one named offer at that tier.

At the top of the ladder sits the saddle, 6 emeralds and the reason a lot of players max out this profession at all. Saddles have no crafting recipe in Java or Bedrock, so the leatherworker at Master and rare loot chests are the only reliable sources in the game.

Leatherworker trades at Novice level
Input	Output	Uses	Villager XP	Java 26.3	Bedrock 1.26.50.4	Notes
Leather		16	2same in Bedrock	verified	verified
	Leather Leggings	12	1same in Bedrock	verified	price computed in game	Dyed based on biome
	Leather Tunic	12	1same in Bedrock	verified	price computed in game	Dyed based on biome

3 trades at Novice level

The game draws 2 of the 3 offers this tier can hold, so any one of them is on 67% of novice leatherworkers, and a specific one takes about 1.5 rolls to turn up. Bedrock builds this tier out of 2 groups and draws 1 of 1 and 1 of 2, so there the same offer is on 100% or 50% of them. Counted from the game's own draw sizes. How that check works.

Curing a zombie villager is worth 125 reputation, taken off the first thing you hand over. The discount is capped by the price, so here it runs from 2 on the leather leggings (3 to 1) up to 6 on the leather tunic (7 to 1). No cost ever drops below one.

The leather offer pays the villager 2 XP a use and the leather tunic offer pays 1, so the 10 XP from Novice to Apprentice is 5 trades one way and 10 the other. That fits inside the 16 uses the offer holds, so one stock run covers it. Read out of each trade's own file. How that check works.

All 3 trades on this page were read out of the trade files Minecraft Java 26.3 ships in its own data, checked on 26 September 2026 against the item, both amounts and the use limit. Bedrock 1.26.50.4 is read as well, and where it disagrees the row says how. Which files, and what is not checked.

Leatherworker trades at Apprentice level
Input	Output	Uses	Villager XP	Java 26.3	Bedrock 1.26.50.4	Notes
Flint		12	10same in Bedrock	verified	verified
	Leather Cap	12	5same in Bedrock	verified	price computed in game	Dyed based on biome
	Leather Boots	12	5same in Bedrock	verified	price computed in game	Dyed based on biome

3 trades at Apprentice level

The game draws 2 of the 3 offers this tier can hold, so any one of them is on 67% of apprentice leatherworkers, and a specific one takes about 1.5 rolls to turn up. Bedrock builds this tier out of 2 groups and draws 1 of 1 and 1 of 2, so there the same offer is on 100% or 50% of them. Counted from the game's own draw sizes. How that check works.

Curing a zombie villager is worth 125 reputation, taken off the first thing you hand over. The discount is capped by the price, so here it runs from 3 on the leather boots (4 to 1) up to 6 on the flint (26 to 20). No cost ever drops below one.

The flint offer pays the villager 10 XP a use and the leather boots offer pays 5, so the 60 XP from Apprentice to Journeyman is 6 trades one way and 12 the other. That fits inside the 12 uses the offer holds, so one stock run covers it. Read out of each trade's own file. How that check works.

Leatherworker trades at Journeyman level
Input		Output	Emeralds	Uses	Villager XP	Java 26.3	Bedrock 1.26.50.4	Notes
Rabbit Hide				12	20same in Bedrock	verified	verified
		Leather Tunic		12	1Bedrock 10	verified	price computed in game	Dyed based on biome

2 trades at Journeyman level

The game draws 2 of the 2 offers this tier holds, which is all of them, so every journeyman leatherworker shows this whole table. Nothing to roll for at this tier. Bedrock lands on the same chance from its own table. Counted from the game's own draw sizes. How that check works.

Curing a zombie villager is worth 125 reputation, taken off the first thing you hand over. On this tier that is 6 off every trade, so the rabbit hide goes from 9 to 3. No cost ever drops below one.

The rabbit hide offer pays the villager 20 XP a use and the leather tunic offer pays 1, so the 80 XP from Journeyman to Expert is 4 trades one way and 80 the other. That fits inside the 12 uses the offer holds, so one stock run covers it. Bedrock pays 10 on the leather tunic offer rather than 1. Read out of each trade's own file. How that check works.

All 2 trades on this page were read out of the trade files Minecraft Java 26.3 ships in its own data, checked on 26 September 2026 against the item, both amounts and the use limit. Bedrock 1.26.50.4 is read as well, and where it disagrees the row says how. Which files, and what is not checked.

Leatherworker trades at Expert level
Input		Output	Emeralds	Uses	Villager XP	Java 26.3	Bedrock 1.26.50.4	Notes
		Leather Horse Armor		12	15same in Bedrock	verified	price computed in game
Scute				12	30same in Bedrock	verified	verified

2 trades at Expert level

The game draws 2 of the 2 offers this tier holds, which is all of them, so every expert leatherworker shows this whole table. Nothing to roll for at this tier. Bedrock lands on the same chance from its own table. Counted from the game's own draw sizes. How that check works.

Curing a zombie villager is worth 125 reputation, taken off the first thing you hand over. The discount is capped by the price, so here it runs from 3 on the scute (4 to 1) up to 5 on the leather horse armor (6 to 1). No cost ever drops below one.

The scute offer pays the villager 30 XP a use and the leather horse armor offer pays 15, so the 100 XP from Expert to Master is 4 trades one way and 7 the other. That fits inside the 12 uses the offer holds, so one stock run covers it. Read out of each trade's own file. How that check works.

Leatherworker trades at Master level
Input		Output	Emeralds	Uses	Villager XP	Java 26.3	Bedrock 1.26.50.4	Notes
		Saddle		12	30same in Bedrock	verified	verified	Saddles cannot be crafted
		Leather Cap		12	5Bedrock 30	verified	price computed in game	Dyed based on biome

2 trades at Master level

The game draws 2 of the 2 offers this tier holds, which is all of them, so every master leatherworker shows this whole table. Nothing to roll for at this tier. Bedrock builds this tier out of 1 group and draws 1 of 2, so there the same offer is on 50% of them. Counted from the game's own draw sizes. How that check works.

Curing a zombie villager is worth 125 reputation, taken off the first thing you hand over. The discount is capped by the price, so here it runs from 4 on the leather cap (5 to 1) up to 5 on the saddle (6 to 1). No cost ever drops below one.

Master is the top tier. Its offers still pay between 5 and 30 XP a use, but there is no tier above for that XP to open. Bedrock pays 30 on the leather cap offer rather than 5. Read out of each trade's own file. How that check works.

Novice to Master: what the climb costs

A Leatherworker does not level up on time served, it levels up on trading XP, and each of its offers pays a fixed amount of it. That makes the climb a countable thing rather than a chore: 19 trades take one from Novice to Master if you use the offer that pays most at every tier, and the tiers below say which offer that is.

The fewest trades that take a Leatherworker from Novice to Master, tier by tier
Climb	XP	Offer that pays most	Trades	You hand over	You get back
Novice to Apprentice	10	The leather offer, 2 XP a useon 67% of leatherworkers at this tier	5	30 leather	5 emeralds
Apprentice to Journeyman	60	The flint offer, 10 XP a useon 67% of leatherworkers at this tier	6	156 flint	6 emeralds
Journeyman to Expert	80	The rabbit hide offer, 20 XP a use	4	36 rabbit hides	4 emeralds
Expert to Master	100	The scute offer, 30 XP a use	4	16 scutes	4 emeralds
Novice to Master	250	no restock needed	19	30 leather, 156 flint, 36 rabbit hides and 16 scutes	19 emeralds

The bill for the whole climb is 30 leather, 156 flint (2.4 stacks), 36 rabbit hides and 16 scutes. It pays for itself: 19 emeralds more than you started with by the time it is Master. No offer in the route runs past what its slot holds, so a Leatherworker with full stock can be walked all the way up in one sitting.

Counted, not timed. The XP each offer pays is the xp field of its own trade file, the 10, 60, 80, 100 XP between the tiers is VillagerData.NEXT_LEVEL_XP_THRESHOLDS, and the prices and use counts are the table above. Where a tier has more than one offer paying the top rate, the route takes the one any villager can hold, then the one that pays rather than costs, then the cheapest. XP over the line is not lost, it counts toward the next tier, so no trade in the route is wasted. How that check works.

Odds, groups and price rules for every Leatherworker trade

Trade	Java odds	Bedrock odds	Bedrock group	Price multiplier	One cure takes off
6Leatherfor1EmeraldLeatherworker, Novice	67%	100%	1	0.05	6 items
3Emeraldfor1Leather LeggingsLeatherworker, Novice	67%	50%	2	0.2	25 items
7Emeraldfor1Leather TunicLeatherworker, Novice	67%	50%	2	0.2	25 items
26Flintfor1EmeraldLeatherworker, Apprentice	67%	100%	1	0.05	6 items
5Emeraldfor1Leather CapLeatherworker, Apprentice	67%	50%	2	0.2	25 items
4Emeraldfor1Leather BootsLeatherworker, Apprentice	67%	50%	2	0.2	25 items
9Rabbit Hidefor1EmeraldLeatherworker, Journeyman	100%	100%	1	0.05	6 items
7Emeraldfor1Leather TunicLeatherworker, Journeyman	100%	100%	2	0.2	25 items
6Emeraldfor1Leather Horse ArmorLeatherworker, Expert	100%	100%	2	0.2	25 items
4Scutefor1EmeraldLeatherworker, Expert	100%	100%	1	0.05	6 items
6Emeraldfor1SaddleLeatherworker, Master	100%	50%	1	0.2	25 items
5Emeraldfor1Leather CapLeatherworker, Master	100%	50%	1	0.2	25 items

Leatherworker trades by tier (Novice to Master)

A Leatherworker climbs five career ranks, and each rank it reaches adds a fresh batch of offers on top of the ones below it. The experience gates are fixed: the Novice tier opens immediately with 3 offers, 10 more trade-XP points unlock Apprentice (3 offers), 60 more trade-XP points unlock Journeyman (2 offers), 80 more trade-XP points unlock Expert (2 offers), and 100 more trade-XP points unlock Master (2 offers). The full price list for every rank is laid out below; emerald costs marked as a range roll randomly within that band each time the trade is generated or restocked.

Tier 1 · Novice

3 trades · available from the start

Sell to villager: 6 leathers for 1 emerald.

Buy from villager: leather leggings for 3 emeralds and leather tunic for 7 emeralds.

Tier 2 · Apprentice

3 trades · 10 cumulative XP

Sell to villager: 26 flints for 1 emerald.

Buy from villager: leather cap for 5 emeralds and leather boots for 4 emeralds.

Tier 3 · Journeyman

2 trades · 70 cumulative XP

Sell to villager: 9 rabbit hides for 1 emerald.

Buy from villager: leather tunic for 7 emeralds.

Tier 4 · Expert

2 trades · 150 cumulative XP

Sell to villager: 4 scutes for 1 emerald.

Buy from villager: leather horse armor for 6 emeralds.

Tier 5 · Master

2 trades · 250 cumulative XP

Buy from villager: saddle for 6 emeralds and leather cap for 5 emeralds.

Leatherworker trading tips

Sell rabbit hide raw instead of crafting it into leather first. The leatherworker buys 9 rabbit hide directly for an emerald at Journeyman, and crafting hide into leather first only burns time at a crafting table for no extra emeralds, since the villager takes the hide itself.

Do not assume a fresh Novice leatherworker buys both leather and sells both armor pieces on the list. Only 2 of the 3 possible offers at that tier are active on any one villager, so if the trades you want are not showing, the fix is a fresh villager or a trade reset, not more waiting. Curing a zombie villager resets its trades for good, covered in the zombie villager discount guide, and the villager rolling guide explains resets that do not require a zombie at all.

Saddles cannot be crafted, so if you are not lucky enough to find one in a loot chest, a leatherworker at Master is the only shop in the game that reliably sells one for a flat 6 emeralds.

Flint is worth carrying to this villager too, not just to a fletcher. From Apprentice it buys 26 flint for an emerald, the same raw material a fletcher also wants, so gravel mining pays out to whichever of the two you run into first.

Each trade caps out at 16 uses before it needs to restock, and this villager only restocks by reaching the cauldron on its own, up to 2 times a day. If leather stops being accepted mid trading session, wait for it to path home and work rather than assuming the trade is gone for good.

The Cauldron that makes a Leatherworker

A Cauldron is the Leatherworker's workstation, easy to forget when a villager takes the job next to your water store: Villager Professions and Workstations Guide has the full list. Most of what he buys comes off animals, with flint the odd one out.

Leather, 6 per emerald at Novice: How to Build a Leather Farm in Minecraft
Scute, 4 per emerald at Expert: How to Make a Turtle Scute Farm in Minecraft (Seagrass)

Leatherworker trading FAQ

What does the leatherworker trade?
The leatherworker buys leather, flint, rabbit hide, and scutes for emeralds, and sells leather armor pieces, leather horse armor, and a saddle. It is the profession built around raw animal drops.
What workstation turns a villager into a leatherworker?
A cauldron placed near an unemployed villager assigns the leatherworker job. Remove the cauldron and the villager loses the job and its trades.
Why is the leather armor a different color on every leatherworker?
Leatherworker trades are biome specific. The leather gear this villager sells is tinted to the biome the village generated in, not a color chosen by the player, so the same trade looks different from village to village. Leather horse armor is the exception and always comes out untinted.
How many levels does it take to unlock every leatherworker trade?
Five, from Novice to Master. The villager needs to complete enough trades to earn trading experience at each level before the next tier of offers unlocks.
Is the leatherworker really the only source of a saddle?
Saddles have no crafting recipe, so a leatherworker at Master selling one for 6 emeralds is one of the only reliable, repeatable sources in the game outside of rare loot chests.
Does a Novice leatherworker always buy leather and sell both armor pieces?
Not necessarily. That tier draws its visible offers from a larger pool of possibilities, so a given villager might only show some of them. Check its trade list before assuming it buys or sells a specific item.
What is the fastest way to make emeralds from a leatherworker?
Selling raw leather is the simplest route, 6 leather for an emerald at Novice. Rabbit hide works the same way at Journeyman without needing to be crafted into leather first.
What is the cheapest item a leatherworker sells?
Leather Leggings at 1 emeralds is the least expensive sale on the list.
What is the most expensive item a leatherworker sells?
Leather Leggings at 1 emeralds sits at the top of the price list, tied with any other trade at the same rate.
How often does a leatherworker restock its trades?
Up to 2 times a day, and only if the villager can path to its cauldron and work it. Each individual offer also has its own use limit before that particular trade needs a restock, separate from the villager's level.