Village Artifacts Mod Guide: Villager Management, Town Guards & Artifact Crafting
Village Artifacts adds 12 hand-crafted tools and magic items that give players real control over Villagers, Illagers, and Golems. Convert Pillagers into loyal Town Guards, upgrade Iron Golems into player-safe Friendly Golems, cure Zombie Villagers in seconds, and fix locked trades instantly. Browse all items and recipes using the tabs above.
Overview
Village Artifacts is a focused utility mod built around one goal: making Villager interactions less frustrating and more powerful. It adds 12 craftable items that let players fix locked trades on demand, level Villager professions up instantly, cure Zombie Villagers without the usual potion setup, convert Pillagers into allied Town Guards, and upgrade Iron Golems so they stop attacking players by accident.
Every item is crafted from accessible materials, mostly Emeralds, Iron Nuggets, and common mob drops. The Rough Emerald Shard is the foundational material used across almost every advanced recipe, and a single Emerald cuts into 10 shards at a Stonecutter. Use the Items and Recipes tabs above to browse the full list.
Getting Started
- 1
Craft Your First Rough Emerald Shards
Head to a Stonecutter and place a single Emerald to receive 10 Rough Emerald Shards. These shards are used in most of the mod's advanced recipes, so cut a stack whenever you have spare Emeralds. They also have a direct standalone use: right-clicking a Villager with one immediately restocks any locked trades without waiting.
- 2
Fix a Locked Trade Immediately
When a Villager shows a red X on a trade, they have run out of stock. Normally you wait for them to restock overnight near their workstation. With a Rough Emerald Shard, right-click the Villager to restore their stock on the spot. This is most valuable during active trading sessions when you need multiple trades in quick succession.
- 3
Craft a Trading Contract
A Trading Contract (Feather, Ink Sac, and Paper arranged diagonally) converts a Wandering Trader into a permanent Villager when right-clicked. The converted Villager will settle in the nearest village and claim a workstation. This is one of the best early investments if you find a Wandering Trader with desirable trades you want to access long-term.
- 4
Brew Ichor of Virtue for Reputation Repairs
If your reputation with a village has dropped (trade prices inflated, Iron Golems hostile), craft Ichor of Virtue using three Poppies or Dandelions, two Glass Panes, and an Apple. Each use on a Villager increases your reputation by 6 points. A few bottles will return you to neutral without any complex trading chains or waiting.
- 5
Work Toward Town Guards and Friendly Golems
The most powerful items require an Infernal Shard, which needs Rough Emerald Shards, Rotten Flesh, and an Ender Pearl. Once you have the shard, you can craft the Cursed Pillager Amulet to convert Raiders into Town Guards, or the Oblivion Stone to upgrade an Iron Golem into a Friendly Golem that will never attack you even if accidentally struck.
Managing Trades and Wandering Traders
Three items handle the Wandering Trader and trade supply problems. The Rough Emerald Shard restocks any Villager on demand. The Trading Contract (Feather, Ink Sac, and Paper) right-clicked on a Wandering Trader converts them permanently into a Villager who settles in the nearest village and takes a profession.
Wandering Traders always arrive with two leashed Trader Llamas. Once you convert the trader with a Trading Contract, those Llamas remain leashed and cannot be tamed normally. The Llama Liberation Key (Iron Nugget, Gold Nugget, and a Trading Contract) right-clicked on a Trader Llama converts it into a standard Llama that can be tamed, saddled, and kept as a pack animal.
Trade Management Recipes
10Villager Profession Control
Two items give direct control over Villager profession levels. The Scroll of Hubris, right-clicked on a Villager, instantly wipes their profession and all earned trade levels, returning them to an unemployed state. This works even when a workstation block is nearby, bypassing the vanilla lock that normally prevents profession resets. It is the fastest way to reroll bad trades.
The Grimoire of the Lost Merchants Guild does the opposite: each right-click advances a Villager one profession level, from Novice up to Master (level 5), without requiring any trades to be completed. A Cartographer at level 2 offers an Explorer Map to the Woodland Mansion. A Cleric at Master level trades Bottle o' Enchanting. The Grimoire unlocks the best trades without grinding through lower tiers.
Profession Control Recipes
Reputation and Healing
The Ichor of Virtue is a reputation bribe. Right-clicking a Villager with it increases your reputation score by 6 per use. It will not raise reputation above 100, and each use consumes one bottle. Multiple bottles may be needed to fully recover from major reputation damage such as accidentally killing a Villager or provoking an Iron Golem.
The Lost Plague Remedy cures Zombie Villagers without needing a Brewing Stand. Each craft yields two remedies from two Fermented Spider Eyes, two Glass Panes, and a Golden Apple. Right-click a Zombie Villager to begin the curing process, then keep them safe while they convert. The conversion timer is similar to vanilla but without the Potion of Weakness requirement.
Reputation and Healing Recipes
4The vanilla curing process requires a Splash Potion of Weakness (Brewing Stand, Fermented Spider Eye, Gunpowder) plus a Golden Apple. The Lost Plague Remedy replaces this with a single Crafting Table recipe. It is accessible much earlier in a playthrough and removes the need for Blaze Powder to power the Brewing Stand.
Dark Artifacts: Corrupting and Summoning
The Infernal Shard is the mod's dark utility item. Right-clicking it on different mobs triggers permanent conversions: a Villager becomes a Witch, a Pillager becomes an Evoker, a Wandering Trader becomes an Evoker, a Cow transforms into a Ravager, and a Town Guard reverts to a Pillager. These conversions cannot be undone, so use the Infernal Shard deliberately.
The Cursed War Emblem summons three Pillagers when right-clicked on a block surface. The summoned Pillagers spawn without weapons, making them immediately harmless until they find one. This provides a controlled supply of Pillagers to convert into Town Guards using the Cursed Pillager Amulet, without waiting for a Pillager Outpost or raid.
Dark Artifact Recipes
Summoning Pillagers with the Cursed War Emblem near an Iron Golem or Friendly Golem will trigger an immediate fight. Summon the Pillagers away from your village, convert them with the Cursed Pillager Amulet, then walk them back using the Golemsteel Brazier.
Town Guards and Friendly Golems
The Cursed Pillager Amulet (three Leather, one Lost Plague Remedy, one Infernal Shard) converts any Raider or Witch into a Town Guard when right-clicked. Town Guards have 100 health (50 hearts) and deal 11 attack damage (5.5 hearts) per hit. They attack all hostile mobs except Iron Golems, Creepers, and other Town Guards, and they will never target players.
The Oblivion Stone (five Rough Emerald Shards, one Iron Block, one Cursed Pillager Amulet) upgrades an existing Iron Golem into a Friendly Golem. Friendly Golems have 100 health (50 hearts) and deal 15 attack damage (7.5 hearts). They retain all normal Iron Golem behaviors but will never attack players under any circumstances, even when struck directly.
The Golemsteel Brazier is a held item, not a placeable block. While held, all nearby Villagers, Town Guards, and Friendly Golems are drawn toward the player and follow them. Town Guards and Friendly Golems move more slowly than Villagers when following. This is the primary way to relocate a squad of Guards or set up a Villager farm without using Minecarts.
Guard and Golem Recipes
Town Guard
Converted from any Raider or Witch via Cursed Pillager AmuletA converted Raider that fights for the village. Attacks all hostile mobs except Iron Golems, Creepers, and other Town Guards. Iron Golems will not attack Town Guards, preventing friendly fire. Can be lured and moved with the Golemsteel Brazier.
Friendly Golem
Converted from an Iron Golem via Oblivion StoneAn upgraded Iron Golem that retains all vanilla behaviors (village patrol, flower gifting, hostile mob targeting) but is permanently coded to never target players. Safe to have in a base or village where you work closely. Does slightly more damage than a standard Iron Golem's average.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I convert a Vindicator or Evoker into a Town Guard, not just Pillagers?
Yes. The Cursed Pillager Amulet works on any mob classified as a Raider, which includes Pillagers, Vindicators, Evokers, and Illusioners. It also works on Witches. Right-clicking any of these mobs will convert them to a Town Guard instantly.
Does the Scroll of Hubris work even if the Villager is next to their workstation?
Yes. The Scroll of Hubris forcibly resets the Villager's profession and all trade levels regardless of workstation proximity. In vanilla, a Villager linked to a workstation cannot lose their profession, but the Scroll bypasses this completely. After resetting, the Villager will re-claim any nearby workstation and restart as a Novice with fresh trades.
How many Ichor of Virtue bottles do I need to fully restore my reputation?
Each use increases reputation by 6 points with the individual Villager you target. Village-wide reputation recovery depends on applying it across multiple Villagers. For severe drops (such as killing Villagers), expect to use several bottles across several residents. The in-game chat message confirms each application with the exact increase amount.
Will a Friendly Golem attack me if I accidentally hit it?
No. The Friendly Golem is coded to never target players under any conditions, even when directly attacked. This is the primary reason to upgrade an Iron Golem, since vanilla Iron Golems retaliate when struck. The Friendly Golem otherwise behaves identically: defending Villagers, patrolling the village, and occasionally gifting Poppies.
Does the Golemsteel Brazier attract vanilla Iron Golems?
No. The Golemsteel Brazier only attracts Villagers, Town Guards, and Friendly Golems. Vanilla Iron Golems are not affected and will not follow the player when it is held. Upgrade your Iron Golems to Friendly Golems with the Oblivion Stone first if you want Golems in your escort.
What happens if I use the Infernal Shard on a Town Guard by mistake?
The Town Guard reverts to a regular Pillager immediately. To restore them, simply use the Cursed Pillager Amulet on the Pillager to convert them back into a Town Guard, consuming another Amulet in the process.