Wandering Trader in Minecraft

This Minecraft tutorial explains all about wandering traders with screenshots and step-by-step instructions. A wandering trader is a new type of mob in Minecraft that is a lot like a villager, with a few differences in their behavior and where they spawn. Let's learn about wandering traders in Minecraft.

Supported Platforms

Wandering traders are available in the following versions of Minecraft:

PlatformSupported (Version*)
Java Edition (PC/Mac) Java Edition (PC/Mac)Yes (1.14)
Pocket Edition (PE) Pocket Edition (PE)Yes (1.11.0)
Xbox 360 Xbox 360No
Xbox One Xbox OneYes (1.11.0)
PS3 PS3No
PS4 PS4Yes (1.91)
Wii U Wii UNo
Nintendo Switch Nintendo SwitchYes (1.11.0)
Windows 10 Edition Windows 10 EditionYes (1.11.0)
Education Edition Education EditionYes (1.12.0)

* The version that it was added or removed, if applicable.
NOTE: Pocket Edition (PE), Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Windows 10 Edition are now called Bedrock Edition. We will continue to show them individually for version history.

Background

A wandering trader is not the same as a villager in Minecraft, though they have some similarities. Wandering traders are found wandering the game with leashed trader llamas (there are always one or two trader llamas attached by leads to a wandering trader). The following is a picture of what a wandering trader looks like in the game:

wandering trader

Hostility Level Passive Mob
Health Points 20 health points
heart x 10
Where to Find Found wandering around in the game with trader llamas leashed to them
Weapon None
Attack Method Will never attack you
Drops lead Lead (1 lead for every leashed trader llama)
milk Milk Bucket (if holding when killed)
milk Potion of Invisibility (if holding when killed)
Experience Points 0 experience points

Hostility Level (Passive)

A wandering trader is a passive mob. The term mob is short for mobile and is used to refer to all living, moving creatures in the game such as chickens, creepers, and wandering traders. Because a wandering trader is a passive mob, it will never attack you in the game (Creative or Survival mode).

Health Points

In Minecraft, a wandering trader has 10 hearts heart for health. This gives a wandering trader 20 health points (because 1 heart = 2 health points). To kill a wandering trader, you need to inflict 20 points of damage to the wandering trader.

Where to Find Wandering Traders

In Minecraft, wandering traders will naturally spawn in the game on land in most Overworld biomes. The wandering trader always spawns with one of two trader llamas leashed to the wandering trader. As you play the game, the wandering trader and its trader llamas will come and find you. You can trade with the wandering trader.

Also, if you break the lead between the wandering trader and the trader llama, you can tame and ride the trader llama, just like you can with a regular llama. Because there are a number of ways to unleash a trader llama, you don't need to kill the wandering trader to unleash its trader llamas.

TIP: In Java Edition, you can break the lead by placing a boat next to the trader llama. When the trader llama gets into the boat, the lead will break.

If you are having trouble finding a wandering trader, you can summon a wandering trader using a cheat or you can use a spawn egg.

Weapon

A wandering trader does not carry a weapon.

Attack Method

You are safe to walk near a wandering trader and it will not attack or cause you any damage. And if you attack a wandering trader, it will just try to walk away. It will not attack you back.

Drops

When you kill a wandering trader in Minecraft, any leads attached to the trader llamas will break and you can get the lead as a drop.

lead

If the trader llama was holding a milk bucket or a Potion of Invisibility, these items would also have been dropped when the wandering trader was killed.

milk potion of invisibility

Make sure you pick up any dropped items before they disappear. They are useful and should be kept in your inventory to be used later.

Experience Points

As you play the game, you will gain experience. The most common way to gain experience is by killing mobs. When a mob is killed you will see tiny green and yellow balls appear and move towards you.

experience points

These orbs represent experience points. Unfortunately, when you kill a wandering trader, you will not gain any experience points.

Trades

Similar to a villager, a wandering trader can also trade with a player. Each wandering trader has a set of trades available. This is what a set of trades might look like:

wandering trader trades

Spawn Egg for Wandering Trader

You can spawn a wandering trader using the following spawn egg:

Command Examples

Here are some game command examples for a wandering trader in Minecraft:

NBT Tags for Wandering Trader (Java Edition)

Here are the NBT tags that you can use in game commands for a wandering trader in Java Edition:

Spawn Events for Wandering Trader (Bedrock/Education)

Here are the spawn events that you can use in game commands for a wandering trader in Bedrock Edition and Education Edition: