Minecraft MOTD Generator

MOTD stands for “Message of the Day”. It's the text shown beneath the server name in the multiplayer server list: up to two lines with colors and formatting. In Java Edition, it's set on the motd= line in server.properties; in Bedrock Edition, the setting is called server-name.

Design the MOTD in the generator above, copy the finished motd= line, replace the motd= line in server.properties, save the file, and restart the server. If you have a Minecraft server at ZAP-Hosting, you can transfer the MOTD directly to your server with one click: the tool writes it to the server settings and restarts the server if it is running.

The generator is free. You can design, preview, copy, import and share via link directly in your browser without signing up. Only one-click transfer requires your own Minecraft server at ZAP-Hosting.

The server.properties file is a Java properties file in which special characters are written as Unicode escapes. \u00A7 represents the section sign §, which starts every color and formatting code: §c becomes \u00A7c, and a line break becomes \n. The generator applies this notation automatically; you do not need to convert anything.

The server list displays two lines. Each line has about 268 pixels of space—roughly 44 capital letters like “A” (6 pixels each), or considerably more narrow characters like “i” or “l”. Bold text is 1 pixel wider per character. Anything beyond that is cut off or wrapped. The width indicator in the generator shows you live how full each line is.

Minecraft has no gradient command: the generator calculates the gradient separately for each character and writes the intermediate shades as HEX codes (§x§R§R§G§G§B§B). A gradient across 10 letters from red (#FF5555) to orange (#FFAA00) therefore consists of 10 individual colors. Choose two to four colors per gradient. Paper, Purpur and Spigot display HEX colors from Minecraft 1.16 onward; on vanilla servers and older versions, they appear in the wrong colors—use the 16 classic colors instead. For MiniMessage (MiniMOTD, Velocity), the gradient remains a single <gradient> tag.

Minecraft has no built-in way to center the MOTD. The usual approach is to pad the line with spaces until it appears centered. A space is 4 pixels wide, and the line is about 268 pixels wide: the generator measures your text character by character and adds just enough spaces in front to center it. Note: the server strips spaces immediately after motd= when reading server.properties. That's why a centered line starts with an invisible reset code (§r).

Yes, but with limitations. Bedrock servers read the name from server-name in server.properties, display one line, and support only the 16 classic colors plus bold, italic, and obfuscated text. In the Bedrock export, HEX colors are automatically replaced with the closest classic color. Underline and strikethrough are omitted because §m and §n are material colors there.

server.properties is only read at startup, so you need to restart the server. Then click “Refresh” in the Minecraft server list, as the client briefly caches the old text. If your host controls the MOTD through a panel setting, it overwrites the file on every startup: change it there or transfer it directly using the button below the result.