Minecraft Color Codes · MOTD · tellraw Generator

&a, &l and other color codes are previewed just like in game, then converted to a server MOTD, § codes or a /tellraw command.

Colors — select text first; the code is inserted before it

Formatting

RGB color Server MOTD mode (2 lines)

Text (you can use § instead of &)

Preview

Output

tellraw target

Minecraft color and formatting codes

Java Edition uses the section sign § followed by a character: 0–9 and a–f are colors, l bold, o italic, n underline, m strikethrough, k obfuscated and r reset. Most server plugins (EssentialsX, chat plugins) accept & instead, which is easier to type.

Where to put each output

MOTD: replace the existing motd= line in server.properties with the "server.properties (MOTD)" output and restart the server. The line break is already written as \n, and non-ASCII characters are escaped so they survive the file’s encoding.
& codes: for plugin configs and chat.
/tellraw: paste into a command block or chat. Hex colors (1.16+) are kept here.

FAQ

Colors reset after bold?

In Minecraft a color code resets formatting, so put the color first and then the format: &6&l, not &l&6.

Does it work on Bedrock?

Bedrock uses the same § codes for chat and signs, plus some extra material colors. MOTD and /tellraw JSON are Java-focused.