One of the more recent ore additions to Minecraft, Emeralds are semi-precious gems primarily used as currency, but can also be used in crafting.
In Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, emeralds are generally used as they would be in Java, that is, as a way to trade with villagers to obtain items that those villagers offer in exchange.
However, players can also use their Emeralds to form Emerald Blocks, which retain a pleasant green coloring and can be put to good use in decoration. Regardless of how players use their emeralds, they will need to get a few to start with.
Minecraft: Sources to get emeralds
Players have a few options for obtaining emeralds to use in Minecraft. These include:
- Trade items with villagers for emeralds
- Underground mining of emerald ore blocks
- Find emeralds in hidden chests in generated structures
- Defeat vindictive and evocative illagers, as well as defeat illagers attacking a village
- Kill a fox with an emerald in its mouth
In most cases, players tend to mine emeralds or trade emeralds to start their reserves. Underground emerald ore blocks can be broken with an iron or better pickaxe and tend to drop a few emeralds. Emerald ore blocks broken with a Silk Touch pickaxe will also drop an emerald.
When searching for emerald ore in Bedrock Edition, it is most commonly found at height level Y=256. However, players can discover emerald ore in the full range of Y=-16 to Y= 320. The closer players get to the minimum and maximum of the designated range, the less Emerald Ore they will find, which is best to keep in mind.
Emerald ore can even be found inside deep slate, although this is not as common as finding the ore in other layers. If players don’t feel ready to mine just yet, simply trading with villagers can get them some emeralds to start with.
Depending on the profession of a villager and their professional level, they will offer different professions. Many of these professions require emeralds, but others require items relevant to the villager’s job for which the villager will pay emeralds. For example, butcher villagers will take raw meat from players and pay them emeralds.
To initiate a trade with a villager, all a player needs to do is approach a villager and right-click or press the use button on it. This should open the trade window for players where they can trade emeralds or other items.