How to change the MOTD of a Minecraft server

Customize your Minecraft server's Message of the Day—the short message players see in their server list. This guide shows you how to edit and format it with colors.

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What is the MOTD?

The Message of the Day (MOTD) is a short text snippet shown beneath your server's name in the multiplayer server list. It can span up to two lines, making it a great place to add flair, branding, or a welcome message.

How to edit the MOTD

To change the MOTD, follow these steps:

Open the server.properties file.
Find the line that starts with motd=.
Replace the existing text with your new message.

Example:

motd=Welcome to my epic Minecraft server!

Formatting the MOTD

You can add flair to your MOTD using color codes, text formatting&&, and line breaks**.

Supported formatting:

Use § followed by a code to apply color or style (e.g. §6 for gold, `§b for aqua).
Use \n to split the MOTD into two lines.

Example:

motd=My §6awesome §rMinecraft server\nPowered by §bpowerupstack.com

This will appear as:

Example MOTD

Tip: If the second line doesn't show, the first line might be too long. Try shortening it to avoid overflow.

Color and formatting codes

You can use the following formatting codes in the MOTD:

Name	Chat code	ANSI escape code
Black	§0	\u00A70
Dark blue	§1	\u00A71
Dark green	§2	\u00A72
Dark aqua	§3	\u00A73
Dark red	§4	\u00A74
Dark purple	§5	\u00A75
Gold	§6	\u00A76
Gray	§7	\u00A77
Dark gray	§8	\u00A78
Blue	§9	\u00A79
Green	§a	\u00A7a
Aqua	§b	\u00A7b
Red	§c	\u00A7c
Light purple	§d	\u00A7d
Yellow	§e	\u00A7e
White	§f	\u00A7f
Obfuscated	§k	\u00A7k
Bold	§i	\u00A7l
~~Strikethrough~~	§m	\u00A7m
Underline	§n	\u00A7n
Italic	§o	\u00A7o
Reset	§r	\u00A7r