MOTD & Text Maker

Colourful Minecraft text for your server list, chat, signs, books, item names and titles. Type, pick colours, copy.

1 · Type and colour

No colour

Any colour

Select words and click a colour to colour just them, or click a colour and keep typing. Each new line is a new line in the game. The & codes are how Minecraft colours are written — you never have to type them.

Or start from one of these

2 · See it in the game

Play Multiplayer

Two lines, 267 game pixels each — longer lines wrap, and anything past line two is cut off.

3 · Copy it

server.properties

Replace the motd= line in your server's server.properties file, then restart the server.

motd=\u00A7a\u00A7l\u2605 \u00A72\u00A7lOak\u00A7a\u00A7lLeaf \u00A7f\u00A7lSMP \u00A7a\u00A7l\u2605\n\u00A77Survival \u00A78\u2022 \u00A77Friends \u00A78\u2022 \u00A7eNo lag!

Chat message

Sends the text to everyone in chat.

/tellraw @a {"text":"","extra":[{"text":"★ ","color":"green","bold":true},{"text":"Oak","color":"dark_green","bold":true},{"text":"Leaf ","color":"green","bold":true},{"text":"SMP ","color":"white","bold":true},{"text":"★\n","color":"green","bold":true},{"text":"Survival ","color":"gray"},{"text":"• ","color":"dark_gray"},{"text":"Friends ","color":"gray"},{"text":"• ","color":"dark_gray"},{"text":"No lag!","color":"yellow"}]}

Longer than the 256 letters chat allows — paste it into a command block instead.

Big title

Line 1 as the title, line 2 as the subtitle.

/title @a subtitle {"text":"","extra":[{"text":"Survival ","color":"gray"},{"text":"• ","color":"dark_gray"},{"text":"Friends ","color":"gray"},{"text":"• ","color":"dark_gray"},{"text":"No lag!","color":"yellow"}]}
/title @a title {"text":"","extra":[{"text":"★ ","color":"green","bold":true},{"text":"Oak","color":"dark_green","bold":true},{"text":"Leaf ","color":"green","bold":true},{"text":"SMP ","color":"white","bold":true},{"text":"★","color":"green","bold":true}]}

Longer than the 256 letters chat allows — paste it into a command block instead.

Named sword

Gives you a diamond sword with line 1 as its name.

/give @p minecraft:diamond_sword[custom_name={text:"",italic:false,extra:[{text:"★ ",color:"green",bold:true},{text:"Oak",color:"dark_green",bold:true},{text:"Leaf ",color:"green",bold:true},{text:"SMP ",color:"white",bold:true},{text:"★",color:"green",bold:true}]}]

Longer than the 256 letters chat allows — paste it into a command block instead.

Sign

Places an oak sign with your first four lines where you stand.

/setblock ~ ~ ~ minecraft:oak_sign{front_text:{messages:[{text:"",extra:[{text:"★ ",color:"green",bold:true},{text:"Oak",color:"dark_green",bold:true},{text:"Leaf ",color:"green",bold:true},{text:"SMP ",color:"white",bold:true},{text:"★",color:"green",bold:true}]},{text:"",extra:[{text:"Survival ",color:"gray"},{text:"• ",color:"dark_gray"},{text:"Friends ",color:"gray"},{text:"• ",color:"dark_gray"},{text:"No lag!",color:"yellow"}]},"",""]}}

Longer than the 256 letters chat allows — paste it into a command block instead.

& codes (plugins)
For plugins like EssentialsX that read & codes. Hex is written &#rrggbb, which most do too.
```
&a&l★ &2&lOak&a&lLeaf &f&lSMP &a&l★
&7Survival &8• &7Friends &8• &eNo lag!
```

Commands are for Minecraft Java Edition 1.21.5 and newer (26.x included), where item names and sign text are written as text components — older versions wrote them as JSON inside quotes. The server.properties line is escaped so every version reads the § sign correctly.

The colour codes

&0 Black&1 Dark Blue&2 Dark Green&3 Dark Aqua&4 Dark Red&5 Dark Purple&6 Gold&7 Gray&8 Dark Gray&9 Blue&a Green&b Aqua&c Red&d Light Purple&e Yellow&f White&l Bold&o Italic&n Underline&m Strikethrough&k Magic&r Plain again

In the game these are written with the section sign § instead of &. A colour code also turns bold, italic and the rest off, so put styles after the colour: &6&l is bold gold, but &l&6 is just gold.

How to make a coloured Minecraft MOTD

Type your server's name on the first line and a short message on the second.

Select a word and click a colour or a style — or pick a ready-made design.

Check the Server list preview: two lines show in game, and anything longer is cut off.

Copy the motd= line into server.properties (or a command into the game) and restart the server.

What it does

All 16 Minecraft colours plus any hex colour, with bold, italic, underline, strikethrough and magic text

Live previews in the game's own font: server list, chat, sign, book, item name and title

Shows truthfully what fits — a sign line is 90 game pixels, a MOTD two lines of 267

Copies a server.properties motd= line with § written the way the file needs it (\u00A7)

Copies /tellraw, /title, a named /give and a sign /setblock in current Java syntax

Ready-made MOTD designs to start from

Questions

How do I put colours in my server's MOTD?

Minecraft colours text with codes: the section sign § followed by a number or letter — §6 is gold, §l is bold. In server.properties the § has to be written as \u00A7, which this tool does for you: copy the whole motd= line and paste it over the one in your file, then restart the server.

Why does my MOTD show strange characters like Â§?

The § was saved in a way the server reads wrongly. Writing it as \u00A7 instead, as the copied line does, works on every server and every text editor.

Can I use hex colours in my MOTD?

Hex colours work in chat messages, titles, item names and signs on Java Edition 1.16 and newer. A plain server.properties MOTD only takes the 16 classic colours, so the tool swaps each hex colour for the closest one there — some server plugins can show hex in the MOTD, and the & codes version is for them.

Why is the order of codes important?

A colour code turns bold, italic and the other styles off. So write the colour first and the style after it: §6§l is bold gold, but §l§6 is plain gold.

How long can a sign line be?

90 game pixels — about 15 letters, fewer if they're wide ones like W or bold text. The sign preview shows exactly where a line would be cut off.

/tellraw @a {"text":"","extra":[{"text":"★ ","color":"green","bold":true},{"text":"Oak","color":"dark_green","bold":true},{"text":"Leaf ","color":"green","bold":true},{"text":"SMP ","color":"white","bold":true},{"text":"★\n","color":"green","bold":true},{"text":"Survival ","color":"gray"},{"text":"• ","color":"dark_gray"},{"text":"Friends ","color":"gray"},{"text":"• ","color":"dark_gray"},{"text":"No lag!","color":"yellow"}]}

/title @a subtitle {"text":"","extra":[{"text":"Survival ","color":"gray"},{"text":"• ","color":"dark_gray"},{"text":"Friends ","color":"gray"},{"text":"• ","color":"dark_gray"},{"text":"No lag!","color":"yellow"}]} /title @a title {"text":"","extra":[{"text":"★ ","color":"green","bold":true},{"text":"Oak","color":"dark_green","bold":true},{"text":"Leaf ","color":"green","bold":true},{"text":"SMP ","color":"white","bold":true},{"text":"★","color":"green","bold":true}]}

/give @p minecraft:diamond_sword[custom_name={text:"",italic:false,extra:[{text:"★ ",color:"green",bold:true},{text:"Oak",color:"dark_green",bold:true},{text:"Leaf ",color:"green",bold:true},{text:"SMP ",color:"white",bold:true},{text:"★",color:"green",bold:true}]}]

/setblock ~ ~ ~ minecraft:oak_sign{front_text:{messages:[{text:"",extra:[{text:"★ ",color:"green",bold:true},{text:"Oak",color:"dark_green",bold:true},{text:"Leaf ",color:"green",bold:true},{text:"SMP ",color:"white",bold:true},{text:"★",color:"green",bold:true}]},{text:"",extra:[{text:"Survival ",color:"gray"},{text:"• ",color:"dark_gray"},{text:"Friends ",color:"gray"},{text:"• ",color:"dark_gray"},{text:"No lag!",color:"yellow"}]},"",""]}}

How to make a coloured Minecraft MOTD

Type your server's name on the first line and a short message on the second.

Select a word and click a colour or a style — or pick a ready-made design.

Check the Server list preview: two lines show in game, and anything longer is cut off.

Copy the motd= line into server.properties (or a command into the game) and restart the server.

What it does

All 16 Minecraft colours plus any hex colour, with bold, italic, underline, strikethrough and magic text

Live previews in the game's own font: server list, chat, sign, book, item name and title

Shows truthfully what fits — a sign line is 90 game pixels, a MOTD two lines of 267

Copies a server.properties motd= line with § written the way the file needs it (\u00A7)

Copies /tellraw, /title, a named /give and a sign /setblock in current Java syntax

Ready-made MOTD designs to start from

Questions

How do I put colours in my server's MOTD?

Why does my MOTD show strange characters like Â§?

The § was saved in a way the server reads wrongly. Writing it as \u00A7 instead, as the copied line does, works on every server and every text editor.

Can I use hex colours in my MOTD?

Why is the order of codes important?

A colour code turns bold, italic and the other styles off. So write the colour first and the style after it: §6§l is bold gold, but §l§6 is plain gold.

How long can a sign line be?

90 game pixels — about 15 letters, fewer if they're wide ones like W or bold text. The sign preview shows exactly where a line would be cut off.

MOTD & Text Maker

How to make a coloured Minecraft MOTD

What it does

Questions

How do I put colours in my server's MOTD?

Why does my MOTD show strange characters like Â§?

Can I use hex colours in my MOTD?

Why is the order of codes important?

How long can a sign line be?

More free Minecraft tools

MOTD & Text Maker

How to make a coloured Minecraft MOTD

What it does

Questions

How do I put colours in my server's MOTD?

Why does my MOTD show strange characters like Â§?

Can I use hex colours in my MOTD?

Why is the order of codes important?

How long can a sign line be?

More free Minecraft tools