How to change the server list message (MOTD)

The server list message is the text under your server’s name in the multiplayer screen: two lines, colours and formatting allowed.

Change it

1. Settings, Server, Server list message.
2. Type the text. Colours and styles use section codes: §a green, §b aqua, §6 gold, §l bold, §n underline, §r reset. A new line is \n.
3. Save and restart; the message is read when the server starts.

The MOTD generator builds it with a live preview and copies the exact text.

While the server sleeps

A hibernating server keeps its place in the list and shows its own message: that the server is asleep and joining wakes it. Your text returns when it is up. See Server hibernation.

Server icon

The 64 by 64 icon next to the message is set on the server page; the panel offers ready-made pixel-art icons or your own PNG.

Good to know

• Bedrock players on a crossplay server see the message too, without the formatting codes Bedrock does not know.
• The message is also what the join page and the status bot show.