How to Use Minecraft Color Codes on Your Server

Minecraft uses Minecraft color codes to add colour and formatting to text in your server's MOTD, chat messages, signs, and books. Both Minecraft Java and Minecraft Bedrock Edition support this system, though Bedrock adds a few colour codes of its own that Java doesn't have. Every code starts with the symbol § followed by a character, or & if you're using a plugin that converts it automatically.

Minecraft Color Codes

Minecraft Java Edition Color Codes

These are the standard Minecraft Java colour codes:

Minecraft Bedrock Edition Color Codes

Minecraft Bedrock colour codes also include a set of exclusive material colours, only available on Bedrock and only using the § symbol rather than &:

These codes don't map to a standard Java colour, so a Bedrock player and a Java player will never see quite the same shade for the same code.

Minecraft Formatting Codes

Always reset formatting with &r at the end of a coloured string if more plain text follows, otherwise the colour or formatting carries over.

Using Minecraft Color Codes

• In server.properties set your MOTD using Minecraft MOTD colour codes directly, for example: §6Welcome to §lMy Server§r §3- §aSurvival & Creative. Edit this through the Settings tab, then restart your server.
• Vanilla servers don't convert & codes in chat on their own. Minecraft server plugins like EssentialsX Chat or a permissions-based chat formatter translate & into the proper Minecraft chat colour code when a player has permission to use it.
• As of recent Minecraft versions, players can use Minecraft sign colour codes, text colour codes, and book colour codes directly on signs and in written books, as long as chat colouring is allowed on the server.
• When using Minecraft server commands like /tellraw or /title, use the JSON "color" field instead of & codes. For example:

/tellraw @a {"text":"Welcome to the server!","color":"gold","bold":true}

Minecraft Hex Color Codes in JSON Text

Since Minecraft Java 1.16, the "color" field in JSON text components (used in /tellraw, /title, and books written via commands) also accepts full 24-bit hex color codes and RGB values, not just the 16 named colors:

/tellraw @a {"text":"Custom color","color":"#ff8800"}

This isn't available through & or § codes, only through the JSON "color" field, and it isn't supported on Bedrock, which is limited to the standard and material colour codes.

Tips

• Chain multiple colours in one message. The JSON "extra" array lets you build a rainbow-style message with a different colour per word or letter, for example

/tellraw @a ["",{"text":"R","color":"red"},{"text":"a","color":"gold"},{"text":"i","color":"yellow"},{"text":"n","color":"green"},{"text":"b","color":"aqua"},{"text":"o","color":"blue"},{"text":"w","color":"light_purple"}]

• Test MOTD colour codes before saving. A stray & or § without a valid character afterwards just prints as plain text, so check the console preview after editing server.properties.
• Keep a colour code reference handy if your team edits signs or the MOTD often, since the character-to-colour mapping isn't obvious from the code alone.