Skip to main content

Analytics and advertising cookies only with your consent. We use cookies to improve your experience and analyze our website.

MOTD Generator

Minecraft MOTD Generator

Design your server MOTD with color codes, hex colors and formatting — with a live preview of exactly how it will show up in the server list.

Live Preview

This is how your MOTD will look in the Minecraft server list.

Your preview appears as soon as you enter a MOTD.

Your formatting does not end with §r (reset) — this can bleed into the version display.

Enter a MOTD or load the example first. Then you can copy the finished text.

For your server file

Already escaped for the motd= line in your server.properties.

The plain § codes, for example to paste into plugins or other tools.

Colors

Formatting

Hex Color

Pick any color you like. Vanilla servers ignore hex codes and show the MOTD without that color.

Paper/Spigot 1.16+ only

Color Code Reference

All 16 classic Minecraft color codes and formatting codes at a glance — with preview, name and hex value.

Colors (§0–§f)

Code Name HexHex / Preview Preview
§0 Black #000000 Minecraft Minecraft
§1 Dark blue #0000AA Minecraft Minecraft
§2 Dark green #00AA00 Minecraft Minecraft
§3 Dark aqua #00AAAA Minecraft Minecraft
§4 Dark red #AA0000 Minecraft Minecraft
§5 Dark purple #AA00AA Minecraft Minecraft
§6 Gold #FFAA00 Minecraft Minecraft
§7 Gray #AAAAAA Minecraft Minecraft
§8 Dark gray #555555 Minecraft Minecraft
§9 Blue #5555FF Minecraft Minecraft
§a Green #55FF55 Minecraft Minecraft
§b Aqua #55FFFF Minecraft Minecraft
§c Red #FF5555 Minecraft Minecraft
§d Light purple #FF55FF Minecraft Minecraft
§e Yellow #FFFF55 Minecraft Minecraft
§f White #FFFFFF Minecraft Minecraft

Formatting

Code Name Hex Preview
§k Insert obfuscation — Minecraft
§l Insert bold — Minecraft
§m Strikethrough — Minecraft
§n Underline — Minecraft
§o Insert italic — Minecraft
§r Reset formatting — Minecraft

What is a Minecraft MOTD?

The MOTD (Message of the Day) is the line of text players see in the server list before they even join. It lives in your server's server.properties file and can be styled with color codes, bold, italic and even hex colors. A good MOTD is often the first advertisement for your server — it can be the difference between a click and a scroll-past. This generator shows you live how your MOTD will look in the real server list before you save anything.

How to add the MOTD to server.properties

Design your MOTD in the editor above, either through the color palette or by typing § codes directly into the text field. Then click "Copy for server.properties" — the button builds the correctly escaped motd= line, including \n for the line break, automatically. Open server.properties on your server (via FTP, a file manager or our server panel), replace the existing motd= line with the copied text and save the file. Restart your server afterwards so the new MOTD shows up in the server list.

Hex colors: what actually works where

Since Minecraft 1.16, Paper and Spigot servers support real hex colors (§x§R§R§G§G§B§B) with over 16 million possible shades instead of just the 16 classic § codes. Vanilla servers and older Spigot versions do not recognize this sequence and simply ignore it — the MOTD then shows up without that hex color, or in whatever classic color was set last. Check which server software you are running before copying: game-serverhosting offers both vanilla and Paper templates, and only Paper/Spigot 1.16+ renders hex colors reliably.

Frequently Asked Questions about MOTDs

The MOTD (Message of the Day) is the short line of text shown in the server list under the server name, before a player joins. It is set in the server.properties file via the motd= key and can include color codes and formatting.
Copy the generated text using the "Copy for server.properties" button and paste it after motd= in your server.properties file. Save the file and restart the server — the new MOTD will appear in the server list immediately.
No. Hex colors (§x§R§R§G§G§B§B) only work on Paper or Spigot servers running version 1.16 or later. Vanilla servers ignore the hex sequence entirely and show the MOTD without that color — in that case, stick to the 16 classic § color codes.
A MOTD is limited to 2 lines, and each line only fits around 45 visible characters in the server-list window — this can vary slightly depending on character width. Color codes themselves do not count toward the visible character total, only the actual text does.
The §k code makes text rapidly cycle through random characters (an obfuscated/scrambled effect). It stays active until it is ended by §r (reset) or another formatting code — without §r, the effect can bleed into the version display.
A MOTD can have at most 2 lines. In the editor you simply create the line break with the Enter key; when copying for server.properties, the generator automatically converts it into the required \n escape sequence.

Your server, your MOTD

With your own Minecraft server at game-serverhosting you get full control over server.properties, plugins and mods — including panel access to edit your MOTD directly.

Rent a Minecraft server

Continue on your server

Open your server dashboard if needed. Confirm changes to settings and worlds there yourself.

Open my servers