Set your server MOTD and icon

The MOTD is the text below your server’s name in the Minecraft server list, and the server icon is the picture next to it. On a Java server you set the MOTD under MOTD in the game panel. The icon is a server-icon.png file of 64 by 64 pixels in your server’s main folder. After a restart your players see both.

What do you need?

• A Minecraft Java server. The MOTD tab and server-icon.png belong to Java Edition.
• Your text, with colors if you like. Our MOTD generator shows you upfront how it looks.
• For an icon, a square picture. Our server icon maker turns it into a 64 by 64 PNG.

How do you set the MOTD?

1. Open your server in the game panel and go to MOTD, under the Other heading. Server Detection says Java.
2. Type your text in the field under MOTD value. You add color and formatting with an & code, such as &6 for gold.
3. The buttons under Color Codes and Style Codes put a code at your cursor. Preview shows the result straight away.
4. Want two lines? Put \n between them. Don’t press Enter.
5. Click Save to server.properties. You’ll see the message MOTD saved for Java server successfully.
6. Restart your server.

Colors and formatting

Minecraft has sixteen colors, from &0 for black to &f for white, and formatting codes such as &l for bold, &o for italic and &r to reset everything. Put the color before the formatting: according to the Minecraft Wiki, a color code switches off any formatting before it. The game panel converts your & codes into the form server.properties needs. You’ll find every code in our Minecraft color codes.

How do you put a server icon on your server?

1. Make a PNG of exactly 64 by 64 pixels and name it server-icon.png, in lower case.
2. Open File managers. You’re now in the main folder, where server.properties is too.
3. Click Upload, choose Upload Files and select your icon. SFTP works as well.
4. Restart your server and refresh the server list in Minecraft.

Without an icon, Minecraft shows a grey default picture.

Making changes take effect

Your server only reads the MOTD and the icon on startup. Still seeing the old text after a restart? Refresh the server list in Minecraft. You can also set the MOTD yourself in server.properties, on the line starting with motd=. Use the § sign instead of & there, so §6 instead of &6. How to edit that file is explained in Edit the settings in server.properties.

What are the common mistakes?

• Clicking a button under Quick Status Presets. A preset such as Offline is saved straight away and replaces your own MOTD.
• Pressing Enter for a second line. That line then ends up loose in the file and nobody sees it. Use \n.
• An icon that isn’t exactly 64 by 64. The server won’t use it. Mind the name too: with capitals, like Server-Icon.png, the server can’t find the file.
• The icon in a subfolder. It belongs in the main folder, next to server.properties.

No server yet? Have a look at our Minecraft servers.