Pickable Villagers
by ShiftTheDev
With Pickable Villagers, players can pick up a villager, carry it, and place it back down wherever they want on a Fabric server or client.
What it does
Pickable Villagers lets a player pick up a villager and set it down again in another spot. A villager that keeps its items and profession moves along with the player, and the same works for workstations, which can also be picked up and placed. Picking up a villager costs experience, and a player can right-click with a villager item to place it as a trader again, or sneak and right-click with an empty hand to remove a trader.
The mod suits survival worlds, villager trading setups and multiplayer servers where villagers need to be moved without a breeder or a trading hall. Villagers that are sleeping, dead, or more than 4 blocks away cannot be picked up, and baby villagers cannot be picked up by default. Trades can be made directly from the inventory, and the job level, trades and name of a villager are kept when it is moved.
Pickable Villagers runs on client and server, so both the server and every player need it. It requires Alexandria Lib, Architectury API, Cloth Config API and Fabric API, and Mod Menu is an optional addition. Files are published for Fabric across 19 release versions, 1.16.5 – 1.21.7, under All rights reserved, and the mod is not open source. Its features can be disabled or changed in the config, and its MCA Reborn support stops at version 2.0.
Key features
Pickup and placement
A villager can be picked up, carried, and placed in a new spot, keeping its items and workstation link.
Experience cost
Picking up a villager consumes experience, so moving villagers has a cost in survival play.
Trader conversion
A villager item can be right-clicked to place a trader, and a sneak right-click removes one.
Baby and state limits
Sleeping, dead, distant or baby villagers cannot be picked up under the default settings.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
1.21.x8 of 8 versions with builds
1.20.x5 of 5 versions with builds
1.19.x3 of 3 versions with builds
1.18.x1 of 1 version with builds
1.17.x1 of 1 version with builds
1.16.x1 of 1 version with builds
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Requirements
Dependencies declared by the latest file for each loader.
Required 4
Optional 1
How it compares
Villager See, Villager Do is server-side only, open source under the MIT License, and runs on Fabric and Quilt for 1.17 – 1.21.11, so only the server needs it. Always Infect Villagers is server-side only and not open source, under the GNU General Public License v3.0 only, for Fabric 1.18.2 – 1.21.10. Villager Autotrade is client and server, and is not open source, licensed under the MIT License for 1.21.11 only.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pickable Villagers | Fabric | 1.16.5 – 1.21.7 | Client and server | 2026-06-23 |
| Villager See, Villager Do | Fabric and Quilt | 1.17 – 1.21.11 | Server-side only | 2026-01-04 |
| Always Infect Villagers | Fabric | 1.18.2 – 1.21.10 | Server-side only | 2025-11-22 |
| Villager Autotrade | Fabric | 1.21.11 | Client and server | 2026-05-03 |
Questions
Does Pickable Villagers need Fabric API?
Does the server need the mod, or can players join without it?
Can villagers be picked up while they are sleeping or far away?
Can the pickup rules be changed?
In the catalog
Pickable Villagers is one of 29,952 Game mechanics mods on ModsFinder, and one of 19,630 Game mechanics mods for Fabric. 13,697 mods support Minecraft 1.21.7.
More from ShiftTheDev
Similar mods
What the author says
This mod gives you the ability to pick up Villagers, keep them as Items and place them back where you want. They will remember their job, level, trades and name. All features can be disabled/changed in config.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/pickable-villagers
- Owner
- ShiftTheDev
- Published
- 2023-05-08
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-06-23
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15