EMERALD

Emerald is the currency every other page here is priced in: 176 of the offers Minecraft ships pass through it, spread over all 13 professions.

No recipe in the game produces it, unless you count unpacking a block of emerald back into 9 of them: it drops from evokers and vindicators, and it comes out of deepslate emerald ore and emerald ore.

Emerald is also required as a secondary cost on the Armorer's Novice-tier iron leggings trade, the Armorer's Novice-tier iron boots trade, the Armorer's Novice-tier iron helmet trade, the Armorer's Novice-tier iron chestplate trade, the Armorer's Apprentice-tier bell trade, the Armorer's Apprentice-tier chainmail leggings trade, the Armorer's Apprentice-tier chainmail boots trade, the Armorer's Journeyman-tier chainmail helmet trade, the Armorer's Journeyman-tier chainmail chestplate trade, the Armorer's Journeyman-tier shield trade, the Armorer's Expert-tier enchanted diamond leggings trade, the Armorer's Expert-tier enchanted diamond boots trade, the Armorer's Master-tier enchanted diamond helmet trade, the Armorer's Master-tier enchanted diamond chestplate trade, the Butcher's Novice-tier rabbit stew trade, the Butcher's Apprentice-tier cooked porkchop trade, the Butcher's Apprentice-tier cooked chicken trade, the Cartographer's Novice-tier empty map trade, the Cartographer's Apprentice-tier village explorer map trade, the Cartographer's Apprentice-tier swamp explorer map trade, the Cartographer's Apprentice-tier jungle explorer map trade, the Cartographer's Journeyman-tier ocean explorer map trade, the Cartographer's Journeyman-tier trial chambers map trade, the Cartographer's Expert-tier item frame trade, the Cartographer's Expert-tier banner trade, the Cartographer's Master-tier banner pattern (globe) trade, the Cartographer's Master-tier woodland explorer map trade, the Cleric's Novice-tier redstone dust trade, the Cleric's Apprentice-tier lapis lazuli trade, the Cleric's Journeyman-tier glowstone trade, the Cleric's Expert-tier ender pearl trade, the Cleric's Master-tier bottle o' enchanting trade, the Farmer's Novice-tier bread trade, the Farmer's Apprentice-tier pumpkin pie trade, the Farmer's Apprentice-tier apple trade, the Farmer's Journeyman-tier cookie trade, the Farmer's Expert-tier cake trade, the Farmer's Expert-tier suspicious stew trade, the Farmer's Master-tier golden carrot trade, the Farmer's Master-tier glistering melon slice trade, the Fisherman's Novice-tier bucket of cod trade, the Fisherman's Apprentice-tier campfire trade, the Fisherman's Journeyman-tier enchanted fishing rod trade, the Fletcher's Novice-tier arrow trade, the Fletcher's Apprentice-tier bow trade, the Fletcher's Journeyman-tier crossbow trade, the Fletcher's Expert-tier enchanted bow trade, the Fletcher's Master-tier enchanted crossbow trade, the Fletcher's Master-tier tipped arrow trade, the Leatherworker's Novice-tier leather leggings trade, the Leatherworker's Novice-tier leather tunic trade, the Leatherworker's Apprentice-tier leather cap trade, the Leatherworker's Apprentice-tier leather boots trade, the Leatherworker's Journeyman-tier leather tunic trade, the Leatherworker's Expert-tier leather horse armor trade, the Leatherworker's Master-tier saddle trade, the Leatherworker's Master-tier leather cap trade, the Librarian's Novice-tier bookshelf trade, the Librarian's Novice-tier enchanted book trade, the Librarian's Apprentice-tier lantern trade, the Librarian's Apprentice-tier enchanted book trade, the Librarian's Journeyman-tier glass trade, the Librarian's Journeyman-tier enchanted book trade, the Librarian's Expert-tier clock trade, the Librarian's Expert-tier compass trade, the Librarian's Expert-tier enchanted book trade, the Librarian's Master-tier yellow candle trade, the Librarian's Master-tier red candle trade, the Mason's Novice-tier brick trade, the Mason's Apprentice-tier chiseled stone bricks trade, the Mason's Journeyman-tier polished andesite trade, the Mason's Journeyman-tier polished granite trade, the Mason's Journeyman-tier polished diorite trade, the Mason's Journeyman-tier dripstone block trade, the Mason's Expert-tier colored terracotta trade, the Mason's Expert-tier glazed terracotta trade, the Mason's Master-tier quartz pillar trade, the Mason's Master-tier quartz block trade, the Shepherd's Novice-tier shears trade, the Shepherd's Apprentice-tier colored wool trade, the Shepherd's Apprentice-tier colored carpet trade, the Shepherd's Journeyman-tier bed trade, the Shepherd's Expert-tier banner trade, the Shepherd's Master-tier painting trade, the Toolsmith's Novice-tier stone axe trade, the Toolsmith's Novice-tier stone shovel trade, the Toolsmith's Novice-tier stone pickaxe trade, the Toolsmith's Novice-tier stone hoe trade, the Toolsmith's Apprentice-tier bell trade, the Toolsmith's Journeyman-tier enchanted iron axe trade, the Toolsmith's Journeyman-tier enchanted iron shovel trade, the Toolsmith's Journeyman-tier enchanted iron pickaxe trade, the Toolsmith's Journeyman-tier diamond hoe trade, the Toolsmith's Expert-tier enchanted diamond axe trade, the Toolsmith's Expert-tier enchanted diamond shovel trade, the Toolsmith's Master-tier enchanted diamond pickaxe trade, the Weaponsmith's Novice-tier iron axe trade, the Weaponsmith's Novice-tier enchanted iron sword trade, the Weaponsmith's Apprentice-tier bell trade, the Weaponsmith's Expert-tier enchanted diamond axe trade, and the Weaponsmith's Master-tier enchanted diamond sword trade, where you hand it over alongside emeralds rather than receiving emeralds for it.

A smaller set of rows spend it differently, riding along with a raw ingredient instead of paying for the trade on its own: a Fisherman at the Novice tier takes 6 raw cod and 1 emerald for 6 cooked cod, a Fisherman at the Apprentice tier takes 6 raw salmon and 1 emerald for 6 cooked salmon, and a Fletcher at the Novice tier takes 10 gravel and 1 emerald for 10 flint. That is the whole of it: no emeralds come back out of these rows, so each one is a conversion rather than a sale, and the emerald is part of what you pay in.

Emerald has no emerald value of its own: no profession buys it and none sells it. It is consumed as part of another trade, where the Armorer takes 1 emerald alongside emeralds to produce iron leggings at the Novice tier. So the question is not what it is worth but whether you keep enough of it on hand, since each use consumes yours for good.

Emerald is never the item a villager hands back, only ever something you pay in. On the Armorer's Novice tier, 7 emeralds alone buys 1 iron leggings, no second ingredient involved. On the Fisherman's Novice tier the pattern is different: 6 raw cod and 1 emerald together become 6 cooked cod, the emerald riding along on top of the fish rather than paying for the trade by itself.

Either way the slot only opens as many times as its own use limit allows before it locks and the villager has to restock at its job site, something every villager can do up to 2 times a Minecraft day. Because finishing a trade fixes a villager's offers for good, count out the emeralds a target trade needs, and any second ingredient it asks for, before starting rather than partway through.

How many to set aside: the Armorer's Novice-tier iron leggings trade asks 7 emeralds a go and runs 12 times before it locks, so 84 emeralds clears the whole slot.

Funding it: the same Armorer buys coal at 15 a piece for the emerald that trade pays out, one of the cheaper ways to build the stack back up.

Also on the Armorer's list: iron boots, iron helmet, iron chestplate, iron ingot, and bell.

Emeralds are the one currency in Minecraft, and they are unusual in that the ore is rarer than diamond while the item is easy to farm through trading. That gap is why almost nobody mines for them: a Farmer buying crops produces more emeralds an hour than a pickaxe ever will.

Beyond trading they do very little. There is an emerald block for storage and a beacon accepts them like any other precious metal, and that is the whole list. The value sits entirely in what villagers will hand over for them.

Emerald ore only generates in mountain biomes, in single blocks rather than veins, and each one gives a single emerald. That is the rarest ore distribution in the game, and it is exactly why the currency works: nobody can mine their way to wealth, so trading is the only route.

The block form is storage rather than a material. Nine emeralds pack into a block and come back out again, which is worth doing because emeralds stack to a full stack and a serious trading operation runs out of chest space before it runs out of villagers.

Nothing else uses them. There is no emerald tool, no emerald armour, no recipe that needs one as an ingredient, which is unusual for a gem in this game and the reason the whole item exists as money and nothing else.

72 trades on this site pay out an Emerald, and each of them wants something you can grow, breed or collect. Best Minecraft Farms for Money on Economy Servers compares which farms earn the most, and a raid farm drops Emeralds from vindicators and evokers directly: How to Build a Raid Farm in Minecraft.