How to style your Minecraft server list entry: MOTD, colours and icon

When players look at the Minecraft server list, they see your server's name, a message of the day (the MOTD) of two lines, and a small icon. The panel has a Server list look card that lets you write the MOTD with colours and styles, see it as players will, and add an icon by choosing a picture. You do not need to type formatting codes or resize an image yourself.

Open the card

1. Open your server in the panel and click the Settings tab.
2. In the list on the left, click Server Properties (Java).

3. The Server list look card is near the top, above the list of settings. It is for Java servers. If it is not there, start the server once so it writes server.properties.

   

Write the message of the day

1. Click in Line 1 and type the first line. Use Line 2 for the second.
2. To colour or style text, select it and click a colour square or a style button in the Colours and styles bar. Each colour square shows its name and its code.
3. Look at Preview of the server list entry. It shows your MOTD and your icon the way the server list will, with the player count, and a stand-in server name.
4. A warning, Only two lines show in the server list, and a long line wraps onto the next. The rest is cut off, appears if your text is too long.
5. Click Save only to save, or Save & restart to save and apply it at once. Revert discards your changes. Changes take effect the next time the server starts, so warn your players before you restart.

Then refresh the server list in the game to see it.

Add or change the icon

1. Under the icon, click Add icon, or Change icon if you already have one.
2. Choose a picture. Any PNG, JPEG, WebP or GIF works, up to 10 MB. You do not have to make it 64 by 64 pixels yourself.
3. In the window Crop your server icon, drag the picture to choose what shows, and zoom in if you like. The window shows your icon at its real size. The icon is 64 by 64 pixels.
4. Click Use this icon. The icon is saved, and it shows in the server list after the next restart.

To go back to the default icon, click Remove icon. The default shows after the next restart.

Good to know

• On Java, each player sees the name they typed when they added your server to their list. It is not the name you gave the server in the panel, and the preview shows a stand-in name for that reason.
• If the file you choose cannot be opened as a picture, the panel says so and asks for a PNG, JPEG, WebP or GIF.
• A Bedrock server shows its name differently. See How to change the MOTD, icon, difficulty, game mode and seed.
• Doing it by hand is still possible: Minecraft server properties explained.

Setting up a server for your community? See Minecraft server hosting.