Minecraft Wandering Trader: Best Trades, Spawn & AFK Farm

Some players dislike him, while others can’t wait for him to show up. The Wandering Trader in Minecraft is a surprisingly divisive character. On the one hand, he offers some great trades; on the other, he tends to appear at the most unusual moments. And why are his offers useful at all? Today we take a closer look at the Wandering Trader, his two llamas, and his varied stock. He’s more useful than you might think! And there’s an automatic AFK farm at the end of the article as well.

Minecraft Wandering Trader explained: functions and benefits

At first glance, the Wandering Trader looks like a regular villager, but he works quite differently. Yes, you can trade items for Emeralds with him, but he doesn’t stay permanently in your world. He roams Minecraft with his two llamas and only drops by every now and then. When he does, you should make use of his offers!

Unlike his sedentary friends, he sells many items that are only found in specific biomes. That’s why trading a few emeralds with him can be worthwhile. This is especially handy for players who don’t enjoy travelling but still want different wood types or flowers.

Spawn mechanics of the Wandering Trader in Minecraft

Many players probably jump the first (or tenth) time the Wandering Trader appears in their world. He just pops up out of nowhere – usually right near you. Roughly 20 minutes after creating your Minecraft world, he has a chance to spawn randomly. The mechanic is designed so that he only shows up occasionally, which means it can still take several hours overall.

You’ll definitely see – and especially hear – him if you spend some time on the surface. In general, he tries to spawn near you on the highest Y level with daylight. Large, open areas are therefore best to increase the chance. The trader spawns within a radius of 48 blocks of the player or a nearby bell.

He doesn’t stay forever, though, and will eventually move on. Typically, he can remain for up to 40 minutes (two in‑game days). After that, his cooldown resets and he’s likely to reappear only hours later. You can’t prevent him from disappearing with a Name Tag or any other method – only with the farm we’ll show you later.

Best trades from the Wandering Trader: buying, selling, tips

Thanks to a recent update, you can both buy from and sell to the Wandering Trader. Like regular villagers, Emeralds are his currency. Have some ready or get them from him when he first appears – handy if you haven’t found a village yet or you’re attempting a challenge.

These items the Wandering Trader buys:

All of these resources are easy to farm and therefore a solid source of emeralds. Important: Each time he only wants two of these items, and each trade gets disabled after two uses. So you can’t use his trades as often as with normal villagers. In a pinch, though, these buy-ins are very practical!

These items the Wandering Trader sells (normal):

• 1 Emerald: Flowers (various types), Sugar Cane, Vines, Dyes (various types), Pumpkins, Seeds (various types), Moss/Pale Moss, Mushrooms, Sand/Red Sand, Small Dripleaf, Lily Pad, Pointed Dripstone, Rooted Dirt
• 2 Emeralds: Sea Pickle, Glowstone
• 3 Emeralds: Bucket of Tropical Fish/Pufferfish, Cactus, Coral Block (various types), Kelp
• 4 Emeralds: Slimeball
• 5 Emeralds: Saplings (various types), Nautilus Shell

Special sales:

• 1 Emerald: Packed Ice, 4x Gunpowder, 8x Log (random)
• 3 Emeralds: 3x Podzol
• 5 Emeralds: Potion of Invisibility
• 6 Emeralds: Blue Ice
• 6–20 Emeralds: Enchanted Iron Pickaxe

Per appearance, the Wandering Trader usually offers five normal and two special sales – all chosen at random. That can make it tricky to wait for the perfect deal. For challenge runs, however, many of these offers are worth their weight in gold!

Practical tips for profitable trades:

• Pick up a Nautilus Shell early if you want a Conduit quickly for a trident/underwater build.
• Cactus and corals are ideal if you spawn far from a desert or warm ocean.
• Slimeball gives early access to leads, sticky pistons and honey block mechanics.
• Saplings help you get rare wood types without long trips.

Extra tips: llamas, leads, invisibility and drops

There are a few more tricks and secrets to discover! You can shear the trader’s llamas off their leads and pick up the two Leads. The llamas themselves – with their unique rugs – can also be tamed and kept. Afterwards, you can swap their carpets as usual or breed the llamas. If you kill the llamas, they only drop Leather.

A funny mechanic: at night the trader turns invisible. So you can not only buy a Potion of Invisibility from him, but also obtain one if he transforms at sunset. If you kill him at that moment, he may drop such a potion. The same works when he drinks milk in the morning. A bit mean – but possible!

AFK farm for the Wandering Trader: step-by-step build

Because the Wandering Trader keeps reappearing, you can incorporate him into an AFK farm. While you’re AFK, all traders are collected and sent to the Nether. This prevents them from despawning after 40 minutes.

How to build a farm for Wandering Traders:

1. Find an ocean with no spawnable land nearby. Pillar up and build a large platform (around 100x100 blocks). Light it up well so no monsters spawn.
2. In the centre, build a collection basin with a water stream leading to a Nether portal. The hole should be around 9x9 blocks, with a separate platform, a bell, and transparent blocks underneath. Around it, between the large and small platforms, place two rings of trapdoors.
3. In the Nether, build a safe area around the portal and ensure the coordinates are correct.

Note: Due to its spawn mechanics, the farm is naturally not extremely efficient, but it can be very useful in Superflat worlds or other challenges. Use it while you’re not actively playing and collect the traders in the Nether; later you can take your time to use their offers. An in‑depth guide to Superflat: (Surviving in a Minecraft Superflat World: The Ultimate Guide) .

Conclusion: is the Wandering Trader worth it?

Although some players don’t like the Wandering Trader, he’s a valuable source of rare items. He roams the world and only visits every few in‑game hours, but he always brings new offers – often from other biomes or dimensions. He also spawns on servers; a nearby player is chosen at random as the target. If you like, you can rent a Minecraft server from us right away. The AFK farm presented here works on servers too.