Minecraft MOTD Color Codes & Formatting Guide: RGB Hex, Gradients & MiniMessage
How to style a Minecraft server MOTD (Message of the Day): classic section sign and ampersand color codes, RGB hex colors, and MiniMessage formatting for Paper, Velocity and BungeeCord.
In this guide
1. Classic Minecraft Color Codes (&0 to &f) & Formatting Tags
The Minecraft server list displays two lines of text (each roughly 45 to 60 characters depending on character pixel width). In traditional server.properties files, colors are designated using \u00A7 (section sign §) or plugin formatting codes with &.
&0 - Black (#000000) &8 - Dark Gray (#555555)
&1 - Dark Blue (#0000AA) &9 - Blue (#5555FF)
&2 - Dark Green (#00AA00) &a - Green (#55FF55)
&3 - Dark Aqua (#00AAAA) &b - Aqua (#55FFFF)
&4 - Dark Red (#AA0000) &c - Red (#FF5555)
&5 - Dark Purple (#AA00AA) &d - Light Purple (#FF55FF)
&6 - Gold (#FFAA00) &e - Yellow (#FFFF55)
&7 - Gray (#AAAAAA) &f - White (#FFFFFF)
&k - Obfuscated (Magic) &l - Bold
&m - Strikethrough &n - Underline
&o - Italic &r - Reset Formatting2. Modern RGB Hex Color Codes in Server MOTDs (1.16+)
Minecraft 1.16 added support for 24-bit RGB text colors (about 16.7 million colors). In BungeeCord, Paper, and modern server list plugins (like MiniPlaceholders or CleanMOTD), format custom Hex colors using &#RRGGBB or <#RRGGBB>.
# server.properties MOTD with Unicode Escapes & Hex formatting:
motd=\u00A7a\u00A7lENZONIC CLOUD \u00A78\u00BB \u00A7fSurvival SMP \u00A77[1.20.4-1.21]\n\u00A7e\u00A7oCustom Dungeons \u00A78| \u00A7bLow Latency \u00A78| \u00A7dplay.enzonic.com3. MiniMessage Gradients & Rainbows
If using Paper 1.18+ or Velocity proxy, Kyori MiniMessage gives you readable gradient tags instead of Unicode escapes.
<gradient:#b2ff00:#00ffaa><b>ENZONIC SURVIVAL SMP</b></gradient> <dark_gray>» <gray>Season 4 Live!
<rainbow> Custom Enchants</rainbow> <dark_gray>| <yellow>Join Now: <white>play.yourserver.com