How to move Villagers in Minecraft

Having Villagers around in Minecraft has been helpful since I can trade with them for rare items or breed them to increase my farm's output and gather more resources. Once you learn how to move Villagers in Minecraft, you can relocate them strategically, helping your villages thrive as well.

Ways to move Villagers in Minecraft

The main benefit of moving Villagers is to position them for iron farms, but some players want to move them near their base to have neighbors since it can get lonely in a single-player game. Here are all the different ways to move Villagers in Minecraft.

Boats

The most efficient way to move a single Villager is by boat. Moving a boat on land does not decrease your speed by a substantial amount. If a river is nearby, it becomes the fastest way to move a Villager over a long distance, so long as the river goes where you want it to go!

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To set this up, place a boat in front of the Villager as it's walking. It can take some getting used to, but generally, they'll pop right inside if it's placed correctly. In Bedrock Edition, you can attach a lead to the boat with the Villager and pull it behind you, which is a cool alternative!

• Pros
  • Efficient: It's an excellent method to move one Villager, suitable for short, medium, and long distances.
  • Easy: It only requires a boat and a villager!
  • Fast: It's slightly slower than walking but much faster than any other method if you can get the boat to water.
• Cons
  • Maneuverability: You can only go across an equal world level or lower, meaning you can't move upward using this method.

Jobs

This method is generally used to get a Villager to move up blocks if you're using boats. Using it for long distances is not recommended, as it is much slower than walking (due to all the stopping). Place a job site nearby to get a Villager to move in a particular direction over a short distance. The Villager will walk to it and change its job when it notices it. Repeat as necessary.

• Pros
  • Maneuverability: This is the fastest and easiest way to get a Villager to go upward.
• Cons
  • Speed: There are better methods to get even one Villager to cross large distances. It's generally just used in tandem with Boats.

Rails

This method is mostly used to transport multiple villagers to a new location. It is very productive but can be costly when it comes to resources. It can also be a hassle to set up since it's challenging to get Villagers into Minecarts. The best method is to lay out the entire railway path, find a Villager in a small/limited space, and trap them until you build the railway. You could also break out the blocks beneath them, but they like to move around before you can break the second block!

Related: How to Craft and Use a Redstone Comparator in Minecraft - Pro Game Guides

You'll see an example of this in the image above. These Villagers were caught in…well…their home, so I built the railway into their house while inside. In the image below, one of the Villagers kisses the other goodbye on the cheek before being sent off!

• Pros
  • Speed: This is a quick way to get Villagers across large distances (without water nearby). It works for multiple Villagers, and you can even send them all down the railway in succession.
  • Maneuverability: This method allows you to move Villagers up to higher levels without the use of Job Sites.
  • Efficient: This method is best for moving multiple Villagers in the same area to another location.
• Cons
  • Resources: This method can be costly. However, you can break the rails when you're done with them to re-use them.
  • Difficult: It's much more difficult to set up than any other method. Trapping a Villager can be tricky, and laying the rails can take a lot of time.

Nether portals

If no portals are constructed in the Nether, you can build one to transport Villagers in a blink of an eye. Simply build a Nether Portal in the Overworld, pass through it and quickly go back. Move no further than 128 blocks and build a second Nether Portal, and push the Villagers through.

Finally, pull the Villagers back out and wait 30 seconds before pushing them through the portal again. This time, they'll end up exiting through the second Nether Portal!

• Pros
  • Fast: This method lets you move Villagers across large distances instantly, and it will save you a lot of time in the long run if you plan to use the set route for future relocations.

• Cons
  • Resources: You'll need to dig deep to retrieve the Obsidian needed to build a Nether Portal, but if you know how to make a Nether Portal in Minecraft, you won't need to worry!

Water canal

If you want to be sure your Villagers will stay on the path, you can build a walled water canal to your desired destination. Place the Villager in front of the path and use two buckets of water to wash him down; use the bucket to retrieve the furthest block of water and repeat the process.

• Pros
  • Secure: Once you get the Villager into the walled canal, there's practically no way he'll be able to get out.
  • Cheap: All you need is two buckets of water and lots of patience.
• Cons
  • Tedious: It takes a lot of time to carve a water canal, only to have to manually guide the Villager through it. Building a railway takes a bit more time, but it's much more effective.

Apart from these five methods, the only other way to move Villagers is to bump them down a path! That method is costly, slow, and difficult, so it's generally not worth the effort.

Want to farm Mushrooms in Minecraft? Check out our guide on How to Make an Automatic Mushroom Farm on Pro Game Guides.