Minecraft color codes let you add color and formatting to almost any text the game shows: chat, the server MOTD, signs, books, team names, scoreboards, and kick or ban messages. They come in two writing styles — the section sign style used by vanilla Minecraft and the ampersand style used by most plugins — plus full hex colors on modern versions. This guide is the complete Minecraft color codes reference: the full list of colors and formatting codes, how the section sign and ampersand differ, how to use hex colors, and exactly where to paste them on a server you host with Loafhosts. Whether you searched for Minecraft color codes, mc color codes, or Minecraft colour codes, everything you need is below.
What Minecraft Color Codes Are
A Minecraft color code is a two-character token: a special prefix character followed by a single letter or number that selects a color or a formatting style. Vanilla Minecraft uses the section sign as the prefix, written here as the section character. Most plugins and configuration files instead accept the ampersand and convert it to the section sign for you, because the ampersand is far easier to type on a normal keyboard. The codes are the same either way — only the prefix differs. The game reads the prefix, applies the style that the next character names, and keeps applying it until it hits another code or a reset.
Note: Vanilla Minecraft uses the section sign as the code prefix
Note: Most plugins and config files accept the ampersand and convert it to the section sign
Note: A code stays active until another color, another format, or a reset code appears
The Full List of Color Codes
Minecraft has sixteen built-in colors. Each is selected with a number 0 to 9 or a letter a to f after the prefix. Using the section sign as the prefix, the colors are: 0 black (hex 000000), 1 dark blue (0000AA), 2 dark green (00AA00), 3 dark aqua (00AAAA), 4 dark red (AA0000), 5 dark purple (AA00AA), 6 gold (FFAA00), 7 gray (AAAAAA), 8 dark gray (555555), 9 blue (5555FF), a green (55FF55), b aqua (55FFFF), c red (FF5555), d light purple (FF55FF), e yellow (FFFF55), and f white (FFFFFF). The hex values are the exact colors Minecraft renders, which is useful when you want a web page, Discord embed, or logo to match your in-game palette.
Tip: Letters a to f are the bright colors; 0 to 9 cover black, the darks, gray, blue, and gold
Tip: Code 6 is gold and code e is yellow — they are different, and gold is the warmer one
Tip: The sixteen hex values let you match your website or Discord to your in-game colors
Formatting Codes: Bold, Italic, and More
Beyond color, six codes change the style of the text. After the prefix: k is obfuscated (the scrambled, constantly changing characters often called magic text), l is bold, m is strikethrough, n is underline, o is italic, and r is reset. Reset is the most important one to remember: it clears every color and format back to default, so you use it to end a styled section cleanly. You can stack a color and a format together — apply a color code, then a format code, and the text takes both until the next code or a reset.
Tip: Reset clears all color and formatting at once — end styled text with it to avoid surprises
Tip: Apply a color first, then a format code, to get colored bold or colored italic text
Tip: Obfuscated text is fine for a teaser but unreadable — never use it for information players need
Using the Ampersand in Plugins and Configs
When you edit a plugin configuration — a chat format in EssentialsX, a scoreboard, a tab list, a sign plugin — you almost always write codes with the ampersand instead of the section sign. The plugin translates the ampersand into a real section sign before the game sees it. So a code that is dark red with the section sign is written the same way with an ampersand in the config. This is why guides show both styles: they are the same sixteen colors and six formats, just a different prefix for a different place. If a plugin shows your codes as literal text instead of color, it usually means that plugin does not translate the ampersand in that specific field.
| Command | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
&6&lWelcome &r&7to the server | An ampersand example for a plugin config: gold and bold Welcome, then reset to gray for the rest. | Renders Welcome in bold gold, then to the server in normal gray. |
Note: The ampersand and the section sign select the same colors and formats
Note: If codes show as plain text, that field or plugin may not translate the ampersand
Hex Color Codes (1.16 and Newer)
Minecraft 1.16 added full hex color support, so you are no longer limited to the sixteen named colors. How you write a hex color depends entirely on the context. In vanilla commands like /tellraw and /title, hex is expressed using JSON text components with a color key set to the hex value, such as the hash-prefixed code inside a color field. Vanilla signs and books do not support hex colors at all, regardless of format. For Paper and Spigot MOTD and plugin configs, the legacy section-sign chain is used: the section sign, then x, then each of the six hex digits each prefixed by a section sign. Modern plugins built on the Adventure library instead use the much cleaner MiniMessage format, where a color is a tag with the hex value in angle brackets. EssentialsX accepts an ampersand-hash-then-six-digits form in its chat and message settings. Hex colors only work on 1.16 and later; on older versions Minecraft ignores or breaks the code, so fall back to the sixteen named colors.
| Command | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
<#FF7A00>Loafhosts</#FF7A00> | MiniMessage hex format for Adventure-based plugins such as modern chat and tab list plugins. | Colors the word Loafhosts in the exact hex shade #FF7A00. |
&#FF7A00Loafhosts | EssentialsX hex form in plugin config files — an ampersand, a hash, then the six hex digits. |
Warning: Hex colors require Minecraft 1.16 or newer; older versions will not render them
Warning: Vanilla signs and books do not support hex colors in any format; hex only works in vanilla JSON commands like /tellraw and /title, and in Paper/Spigot MOTD and plugin contexts
Where to Use Color Codes on Your Server
Color codes work in most places your server shows text. The big ones are the server list MOTD (the description players see in their multiplayer list), signs and written books, team prefixes and suffixes, scoreboard and tab list text from plugins, and kick or ban messages. Chat color is usually controlled by a chat plugin such as EssentialsX rather than typed by players. Each surface has its own quirk: the MOTD lives in server.properties, signs and books are edited in-game, and most colored chat, tab, and scoreboard text comes from plugin configs using the ampersand style covered above.
Note: MOTD color lives in server.properties; chat color is handled by a plugin like EssentialsX
Note: Signs, books, and anvils accept codes you type in-game when the right permissions are set
Color Your MOTD and Server Name on Loafhosts
On Loafhosts the easiest way to color your MOTD is the dedicated Advanced MOTD tool — open it from the server sidebar and it has a built-in color-code helper for editing the MOTD lines. If you would rather edit the raw value, you can also set the MOTD in server.properties: the Minecraft Server Config Editor opens it right in your browser — no downloading and re-uploading the file. Open the Config Editor from the panel, find the motd field, and add your codes. In server.properties the prefix must be a real section sign rather than an ampersand, so paste the section character or use its escape form if your editor inserts it. Save, then restart the server so the new MOTD is served. Pair a colored MOTD with a custom server icon and your listing stands out in the multiplayer browser.
- Open your server in the LPV5 panel at hub.loafhosts.com and launch the Minecraft Server Config Editor (or the Advanced MOTD tool)
- Open server.properties and find the motd line
- Add your color and format codes using the section sign prefix, ending with a reset
- Save the file in the Config Editor
- Restart the server so the new MOTD is sent to the multiplayer list
Tip: server.properties needs a real section sign, not an ampersand, in the motd value
Tip: Restart after editing — the MOTD is read at startup, not live-reloaded
Troubleshooting: Why Your Color Codes Are Not Working
The most common problem is using an ampersand where the game expects a section sign, such as directly in server.properties or a raw command — those need the section sign, while plugin configs accept the ampersand. The second is hex colors on a version older than 1.16, which simply will not render. The third is forgetting a reset, so a color or bold style bleeds into text you did not mean to style. On Bedrock Edition the section sign colors work but some formats, like underline and strikethrough, are not supported, and Bedrock has a few extra colors Java does not. When in doubt, test in chat or the MOTD, add a reset at the end of each styled run, and confirm your server version supports hex before relying on it.
Tip: Add a reset at the end of each styled run so styles do not bleed into later text
Tip: Bedrock supports the colors but not every format, and has a few colors Java lacks
Warning: Using an ampersand directly in server.properties or a raw command will not work — those need the section sign
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the section sign and how do I type it?
The section sign is the prefix vanilla Minecraft uses before a color or format character. On Windows you can type it with Alt+21 on the numeric keypad, on Mac with Option+6, or simply copy and paste it. In plugin config files you usually do not need it at all — you write an ampersand instead and the plugin converts it for you.
Why isn’t my ampersand color code working?
Vanilla Minecraft and server.properties expect a real section sign, not an ampersand. The ampersand only works in places that translate it for you, like most plugin config fields. If your codes show as plain text in server.properties or a raw command, switch the ampersand to a section sign.
How do I use hex colors in Minecraft?
Hex colors need Minecraft 1.16 or newer. The format depends on context: vanilla commands like /tellraw and /title use JSON text components with a color field set to the hex value. In Paper and Spigot MOTD and plugin configs, the legacy section-sign chain is used. Adventure-based plugins use the cleaner MiniMessage tag with the hex value in angle brackets. EssentialsX uses an ampersand, a hash, then the six hex digits. Vanilla signs and books do not support hex colors in any format.
Can I put color codes in my server MOTD?
Yes. On Loafhosts the Advanced MOTD tool has a built-in color-code helper for this, or you can edit the motd line in server.properties — the Minecraft Server Config Editor opens it in your browser. Use the section sign prefix, end with a reset, save, and restart the server so the colored MOTD is sent to the multiplayer list.
Do Minecraft color codes work on Bedrock?
The sixteen section-sign colors work on Bedrock, but some formatting codes such as underline and strikethrough are not supported, and Bedrock adds a few extra colors that Java Edition does not have. For cross-play servers, stick to the colors that exist on both editions.