Help CenterThe "Message of the Day" (MOTD) on your Minecraft server is more than just a welcome message. It's your server's first impression, an opportunity to capture a player's attention and express the unique personality of your server.
That's why it's not just about what the message says but also how it looks. In this guide, we'll delve into the world of colorful and formatted text, demonstrating how to make your MOTD more eye-catching and engaging using the SimpleGameHosting Control Panel.
👋 Before diving into this more advanced guide, if you're new to changing the Message of the Day or need a refresher on the basics, we recommend reading our article on How to Change the Message of the Day on your Minecraft Server.
Formatting Your Minecraft Server's MOTD
🟩 The Easy Method: MOTD Generator
The easiest way to format your server's Message of the Day is to use a generator online. Here are two options:
Using a generator takes the hassle out of creating a custom MOTD for your server. It's by far the simplest and quickest solution. We'll use the Minecraft Tools MOTD Generator listed above.
Step 1: Write Out Your Message
You'll need to limit your MOTD to two lines (max). In the 'Your Message' field on the generator, type out the message you want to display on the Multiplayer page. Once the text is written, you can more easily format it using the formatting options available in the editor.
Step 2: Generate your MOTD
You can press "Preview MOTD" from here to see how it'll look once complete. If all looks good, hit "Create the MOTD" to display the raw code. Copy it to your clipboard.
Step 3: Paste into the 'server.properties' File
Stop your server by either using the in-game '/stop' command or using the SGH Panel.
Head over to your 'server.properties' file either by accessing the File Manager or connecting to your server via SFTP. You can view our full guide here on how to find the MOTD in the Files Manager here.
Paste the newly generated MOTD in the file. The MOTD is usually located around line 12. Save your changes, and load up Minecraft to test if it worked.
🗒️ Don't forget to restart your server before testing in-game.
🟨 The Manual Method
If you don't want to use any MOTD Generators, you can always manually format your server's message of the day using the following formats:
Formats
- \n -- Line Break
- \u00A7R -- Reset
- \u00A7n - Underline
- \u00A7o - Italic
- \u00A7m - Strikethrough
- \u00A7l - Bold
- \u00A7k - Obfuscated
Colors
- \u00A7k -- White
- \u00A7d - PINK
- \u00A72 - DARK GREEN
- \u00A79 - INDIGO
- \u00A78 - DARK GRAY
- \u00A7a - GREEN
- \u00A77 - GRAY
- \u00A7c - RED
- \u00A76 - GOLD
- \u00A74 - DARK RED
- \u00A70 - BLACK
- \u00A7e - YELLOW
- \u00A75 - DARK PURPLE
- \u00A73 - DARK AQUA
- \u00A7b - AQUA
- \u00A71 - DARK BLUE
Example 👇
\u00a79\u00a7l\u00a7nSimpleGameHosting’s Test Server\u00a7r\n\u00a72\u00a7o\u2714 Skyblock\u00a7r\u00a7o | \u00a7b\u00a7o\u2714 SMP\u00a7r\u00a7o | \u00a7e\u00a7o\u2714 Bedrock Support
Using an online generator is likely going to be the preferred method for most, as typing everything out manually can get tricky with keeping up with all the formatting.
However, once you have all of that done, you can repeat the same steps from method one.
Paste into the 'server.properties' File
Stop your server by either using the in-game '/stop' command or using the SGH Panel.
Head over to your 'server.properties' file either by accessing the File Manager or connecting to your server via SFTP. You can view our full guide here on how to find the MOTD in the Files Manager here.
Paste the newly generated MOTD in the file. The MOTD is usually located around line 12. Save your changes, and load up Minecraft to test if it worked.