1 - Templates
2 - Your two MOTD lines
Codes insert into the active line at the cursor. A colour resets any bold or italic before it, exactly like the game.
3 - Colour and format codes
Colours (click to insert at the cursor)FormattingLive server list preview
This is how the MOTD appears on the multiplayer screen. The grass icon is the default when no server-icon.png is set.
Copy for your server
motd=\u00A76\u00A7lMy Minecraft Server\n\u00A77Welcome back, \u00A7atype /spawn to begin§6§lMy Minecraft Server
§7Welcome back, §atype /spawn to beginIn server.properties the section sign §x is written as the escape \u00A7 and the break between the two lines as \n, so the file loads the colours correctly.
The MOTD is the message of the day shown under your server name on the multiplayer list. This generator builds a two-line colored MOTD, shows it on a live server list row, and copies the exact motd= line for server.properties with the section signs already escaped, so the colors load the first time.A Minecraft server reads server.properties as a Java properties file, which decodes Unicode escapes. That is why a plain section sign or an ampersand pasted into the file often shows up as raw text in game. The fix is to write the section sign as \u00A7, so red text becomes \u00A7c and gold bold becomes \u00A76\u00A7l. The tool above handles that conversion for you.
Use the two lines and the live counters to keep each line inside the width the server list actually shows. Pick a color first, then a format code, because a new color resets bold, italic and the other formats before it, the same way the game does.
1. Build your MOTD above. Type each line, then click a color swatch and a format button to insert codes at the cursor.
2. Copy the server.properties line. It already starts with motd= and has the section signs escaped.
3. Open server.properties in your server folder and replace the existing motd= line with the copied one.
4. Save the file and restart the server. The new MOTD shows the next time the server appears on the multiplayer list.
Running a plugin proxy like BungeeCord or a permissions setup that uses & codes? Copy the raw section-code line instead and paste it where the plugin expects a MOTD.
These are the 16 color codes a Java server MOTD supports. In server.properties each one is written with the \u00A7 escape shown below.
| Color | Code | server.properties | Hex |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | §0 | \u00A70 | #000000 |
| Dark Blue | §1 | \u00A71 | #0000AA |
| Dark Green | §2 | \u00A72 | #00AA00 |
| Dark Aqua | §3 | \u00A73 | #00AAAA |
| Dark Red | §4 | \u00A74 | #AA0000 |
| Dark Purple | §5 | \u00A75 | #AA00AA |
| Gold | §6 | \u00A76 | #FFAA00 |
| Gray | §7 | \u00A77 | #AAAAAA |
| Dark Gray | §8 | \u00A78 | #555555 |
| Blue | §9 | \u00A79 | #5555FF |
| Green | §a | \u00A7a | #55FF55 |
| Aqua | §b | \u00A7b | #55FFFF |
| Red | §c | \u00A7c | #FF5555 |
| Light Purple | §d | \u00A7d | #FF55FF |
| Yellow | §e | \u00A7e | #FFFF55 |
| White | §f | \u00A7f | #FFFFFF |
| Format | Code | server.properties | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bold | §l | \u00A7l | Thicker text |
| Italic | §o | \u00A7o | Slanted text |
| Underline | §n | \u00A7n | Line under the text |
| Strikethrough | §m | \u00A7m | Line through the text |
| Obfuscated | §k | \u00A7k | Scrambling random characters |
| Reset | §r | \u00A7r | Clears color and all formatting |
Apply a format code after the color code, because a new color resets any formatting that came before it. To keep bold across a color change, add §l again right after the new color.
Put a section sign followed by a color code in front of the text in the motd= line of server.properties. In the file the section sign is written as the escape \u00A7, so gold text starts with \u00A76. This generator builds the line for you and shows the escaped version ready to paste.
MOTD stands for message of the day. It is the short description shown under your server name on the multiplayer server list. You set it on the motd= line in server.properties, and it can hold two lines of colored, formatted text.
Write both lines in the editor and the generator joins them with the \n escape that server.properties needs. When the server reads the file it turns \n into a real line break, so the MOTD shows on two rows in the server list.
The most common cause is using a plain section sign or an ampersand directly in server.properties. The file is read with Unicode escapes, so the section sign has to be written as \u00A7 (for example \u00A7c for red). Copy the server.properties line from this tool and it is already escaped correctly.
Each visible line fits roughly 45 characters before the server list cuts it off, and color codes do not count toward that. The character counters next to each line warn you when a line runs past what the server list will show.
You can use the obfuscated code \u00A7k, which renders as constantly scrambling characters in game. The preview here animates it the same way. There is no built-in scrolling or frame-by-frame animation in vanilla server.properties; that needs a plugin.
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