Minecraft Piglin Bartering – Get some valuable loot from Piglin trading

Distract Piglins and take their items - but it's a bit nicer than that sounds

Table of Contents Table of Contents

2020’s Nether Update brought massive changes to The Nether, from new biomes, to new structures and new mobs. It made The Nether a destination that could be lived in, by including a food source in the form of the Hoglin, and a new bartering mechanism, trading with Piglins instead of The Overworld’s Villagers.

We’re going to delve into the latter in this guide, looking at just how to barter with Piglins, what loot you can get, and the associated achievements and advancements.

What is Piglin Bartering?

The Piglin Bartering mechanic is similar to trading with Villagers, in that you trade a specific treasure item for other useful resources that may otherwise be difficult to gather. Piglin bartering is random, though, but it’s also pretty cheap, which makes up for that.

How to barter with Piglins

1.

Kit yourself out

In order to barter with a Piglin, the first step (other than actually going through a Nether portal) is to kit yourself out in at least one piece of gold armor. This isn’t technically essential, but it is advised. Piglins, you see, are hostile towards any player not wearing gold. They’re obsessed with the stuff, and by wearing it, you seemingly portray yourself as someone not to be messed with.

We recommend a pair of Gold Boots, as this is the cheapest item of armor, taking just four ingots to craft. That way, you can keep wearing your Iron, Diamond or Netherite Helmet, Chestplate and Leggings.

2.

Gather your currency

Speaking of them being obsessed with the stuff, Gold is also the currency for bartering with Piglins, so you’ll need plenty of Gold Ingots, too. Gold Nuggets and other Gold items cannot be traded with Piglins, but they will pick it up and just keep it, so be careful what you give them.

It’s a good idea to have a Crafting Table with you, too. Since you can mine Gold Nuggets from Nether Gold Ore, you can craft more Ingots while you’re there.

3.

Locate Piglins

From here, you’ll want to find a decent number of Piglins in a fairly safe area. Piglins can be found in Nether Wastes or Crimson Forests. They’ll also spawn in Bastion Remnants, which themselves can generate in any biomes but Basalt Deltas.

Piglins are recognizable from their leather-colored attire, which distinguishes them from the dangerous Piglin Brutes you cannot barter with.

4.

Get to bartering

Once you’ve located a Piglin, all you need to do is drop a Gold Ingot on the floor in front of it, or click the Use Item button on the Piglin while holding Gold. Careful with the latter, though, one mis-click and you could hit the Piglin instead, finding yourself being chased out of The Nether by them and their angry friends.

If you aren’t wearing Gold and aggravate a Piglin, you can still drop a Gold Ingot, and it will distract them briefly.

What do Piglins drop when bartering?

There is a limited loot pool from which Piglins can draw when bartering. Some more common or renewable items, such as Obsidian and Gravel will be more likely to drop, but there is a chance of obtaining valuable and useful items like Ender Pearls and Fire Resistance Potions.

Item	Approximate chance of dropping
Soul Speed Enchanted Book	1.09%
Soul Speed Enchanted Iron Boots	1.74%
Splash Potion of Fire Resistance	1.74%
Potion of Fire Resistance	1.74%
Water Bottle	2.18%
Iron Nugget	2.18%
Ender Pearl	2.18%
String	4.36%
Nether Quartz	4.36%
Obsidian	8.71%
Crying Obsidian	8.71%
Fire Charge	8.71%
Leather	8.71%
Soul Sand	8.71%
Nether Brick	8.71%
Spectral Arrow (Java Edition only)	8.71%
Arrow (Bedrock Edition only)	8.71%
Gravel	8.71%
Blackstone	8.71%

Trading with Piglins is the only way to get renewable Gravel, Blackstone, Soul Sand, Nether Brick, Crying Obsidian and Soul Speed, as the latter cannot be obtained from an Enchantment Table or fishing loot.

Achievements and Advancements

While there is technically no Advancement or Achievement for bartering with Piglins, the “Oh Shiny” Advancement on Java Edition and the “Oooh, shiny!” Achievement on Minecraft Bedrock are obtained by distracting a Piglin with Gold. This means you do not simply receive the achievement for bartering, but by bartering with an aggravated Piglin.

We suggest swapping your Gold Armor out near one or two Piglins for minimal risk. This will lightly aggravate the Piglins, at which point you can distract them with Gold Ingots, giving you the achievement – and a chance to put your Gold Armor back on.

Piglin bartering farm

You can also turn this mechanic into a pretty generous farm. Depending on how challenging or automated you want it, a Piglin farm can be relatively simple. Simply ship Piglins into some pre-built cages? Um, prisons?… Let’s call them “cosy new homes”. From there, you can either throw items at them and pick up the loot (as long as you have access), or have Gold Ingot Droppers above or beside them, and Hoppers underneath them to collect the loot. This is particularly useful if you’re wanting to build with the likes of Crying Obsidian, or want a lot of Fire Resistance Potions without the hassle of brewing.

And thus ends our guide on bartering with Piglins in Minecraft. With a Piglin bartering farm and a Villager trading hall in your Minecraft world, you’ll have no problem gathering some of the most valuable and rare loot in Minecraft.

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And head over to our Minecraft hub for even more news, guides and how-tos!