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Guides / Minecraft / server.properties

Set a Minecraft server MOTD with colours and two lines

The MOTD is the text under your server name in the multiplayer list. Set it in the Config Editor with colour buttons and a preview, or in server.properties.

Updated , checked on Minecraft Java 26.3

The MOTD (message of the day) is the text players see under your server’s name in the multiplayer list. Edit it in the Config Editor under How players see it: type the message, click a colour, check the preview, save and restart. It can have two lines.

In the ArthOS panel

  1. Open your Minecraft Java server and choose Config Editor in the tab row.
  2. At the top, find the How players see it card: it shows the icon, the name and a preview of the message (“What players see before they join. Changes show after the server restarts.”). Next to it is the Message of the day box.
  3. Type your message in the box (1). The 16 colour squares and the Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough and Reset buttons insert a code at the cursor. A code colours everything after it until the next code, so put a colour where you want it to start.
  4. Press Enter for a second line. The box says “Up to two lines.”
  5. Choose Save (2), then restart the server.
The Config Editor with the Message of the day box, its colour buttons and the Text tools button
  1. Message of the day box
  2. Save
  3. Text tools

Choose Text tools (3) for longer messages. The dialog is called “Minecraft text tools”. It has two modes, Format text and Gradient, and you type with & codes or MiniMessage. It prints lines you can copy, and says “Nothing is saved to your server.” The line labelled With § codes (server.properties, the game itself) is the one to paste into the MOTD box.

The Minecraft text tools dialog in Format text mode, with a typed line and the copyable lines
  1. Format text or Gradient
  2. Type the message
  3. Copy the § line

Keep it short. The wiki warns that a MOTD over 59 characters can make the server list report a communication error.

By hand

  1. Open Files, then server.properties.

  2. Find the motd line and write your message after the equals sign. The section sign that starts a colour code is written as \u00A7, so gold text is \u00A76:

    motd=\u00A76Welcome to the SMP\n\u00A7bJoin our Discord

  3. \n starts the second line.

  4. Save the file and restart the server.

Colour letters and formatting codes are listed in Minecraft colour codes. Typing a plain & here does not work: server.properties needs the section sign.

If it does not work

  • The old message still shows. The server list reads the MOTD at start. Restart the server.
  • The text shows &6 or a strange symbol. The file needs \u00A7 (the section sign), not &.
  • Only part of the message shows, or the list reports an error. The message is too long. Shorten each line.
  • The colour carries into the next line. Add a Reset after the part that should end.
  • The box is greyed out. You can see these settings but not change them with your permissions.
  • The server shows as offline in the list but players can join. Show in the server list (enable-status) is off in the same Config Editor page.

Running Minecraft? See the Minecraft game page.

Sources: minecraft.wiki: Server.properties, minecraft.wiki: Formatting codes

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