Minecraft color codes help the players modify the text color of in-game chat messages, game commands, MOTD and even the team colors.
Also, there are Minecraft format codes which are used to change the style/format of the text. Without further ado, let us take a look at all the MC color codes available in the Minecraft game.
List of All Minecraft Color Codes
The table below lists all the color codes available in the Minecraft game.
| Color | Minecraft Name | Chat Code | MOTD Code | Decimal | Hexadecimal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dark Red | dark_red | §4 | \u00A74 | 11141120 | AA0000 |
| Red | red | §c | \u00A7c | 16733525 | FF5555 |
| Gold | gold | §6 | \u00A76 | 16755200 | FFAA00 |
| Yellow | yellow | §e | \u00A7e | 16777045 | FFFF55 |
| Dark Green | dark_green | §2 | \u00A72 | 43520 | 00AA00 |
| Green | green | §a | \u00A7a | 5635925 | 55FF55 |
| Aqua | aqua | §b | \u00A7b | 5636095 | 55FFFF |
| Dark Aqua | dark_aqua | §3 | \u00A73 | 43690 | 00AAAA |
| Dark Blue | dark_blue | §1 | \u00A71 | 170 | 0000AA |
| Blue | blue | §9 | \u00A79 | 5592575 | 5555FF |
| Light Purple | light_purple | §d | \u00A7d | 16733695 | FF55FF |
| Dark Purple | dark_purple | §5 | \u00A75 | 11141290 | AA00AA |
| White | white | §f | \u00A7f | 16777215 | FFFFFF |
| Gray | gray | §7 | \u00A77 | 11184810 | AAAAAA |
| Dark Gray | dark_gray | §8 | \u00A78 | 5592405 | 555555 |
| Black | black | §0 | \u00A70 | 0 | 000000 |
As you can see in the table, the codes for the same color are different for Chat and Message of the Day (MOTD). Also, the decimal and hexadecimal codes vary for the same color.
So, which code to use for what?
Relax, it is not as hard as it may seem. Here’s how to do it.
Changing Minecraft Text Colors
Chat Text Color: For changing the color of your Minecraft chat, you need to use the color codes mentioned in the column ‘Chat Code’ from the table above.
Minecraft chat color code is a combination of section sign (§) and a hex digit i.e. any number between 0-9 or an alphabet between A-F. For example, §e changes the text color to yellow while §2 turns the text color to dark green.
You can simply copy the chat color code from the table and use it to change the chat text color by appending the code before your text.
Say, you want to send ‘Hello World’ in the dark purple color. Just write ‘§5Hello World’ (without quotes) and see the magic! 😉
How to type section sign (§) in Minecraft?
You must be aware that Minecraft chat does not allow pasting text, that’s why it is important to know how to type the section sign used in the Minecraft color codes.
- Windows: Alt+NUMPAD2 NUMPAD1 or Alt +NUMPAD0 NUMOAD1 NUMPAD6 NUMPAD7.
- macOS: ⌥ Option+6.
- Linux: Compose+S+O.
MOTD Color: As I mentioned, you can change the color of the Message of the Day text that is set on the server. But the MOTD color code is a little different from the chat color code.
As the message of the day is set on the server.properties, you have to change the section sign(§) into its equivalent Unicode i.e. \u00A7.
So, for changing the MOTD color, you must use \u00A7 and the hex digit that defines the color. See the table above for the MOTD codes.
Minecraft Formatting Codes
Apart from changing the colors of the text, you can use Minecraft formatting codes to customize the font styling such as bold, italic, underline and strikethrough.
The table below lists all the formatting codes available in the Minecraft game.
| Description | Chat Code | MOTD Code |
|---|---|---|
| Bold | §l | \u00A7l |
| Strikethrough | §m | \u00A7m |
| Underline | §n | \u00A7n |
| Italic | §o | \u00A7o |
| Reset Default | §r | \u00A7r |
Like you can see, there are four formatting codes that are used to style the text in Minecraft. These codes work both on the chat text as well as the MOTD text.
Usage of Minecraft Formatting codes pretty much the same as the color codes.
To change the format of the chat text, you have to put the section sign(§) + a letter (l,m,n,o) before the chat text. Similarly, to format the message of the day text, you must prepend \u00A7 + a letter (l,m,n,o) with text.
If you want to reset the color or format of the text, just use §r or \u00A7r and the text format will change to the default color.
The format codes are a handy way to different chat text and game commands depending upon the preference of the players.
Pro Tip: While changing the format and the color at the same time, always use the color code before the formatting code. If the order is not correct, the format will mess up.
Editing server.properties & pack.mcmeta
If you maintain your own Minecraft server, then you need to edit the server.properties to set the Message of the Day (MOTD). Below is the line of code that you will find somewhere at the bottom of your server.properties file.
motd=(your message of the day)
Here you can edit the text and add the color codes or formatting codes.
As mentioned above, you have to replace the section sign (§) with ‘\u00A7’ and rest of the process remains the same. Choose the color code / format code from the table below to use it in your server.properties.
| Code | Official Name | MOTD code |
|---|---|---|
| §0 | Black | \u00A70 |
| §1 | Dark Blue | \u00A71 |
| §2 | Dark Green | \u00A72 |
| §3 | Dark Aqua | \u00A73 |
| §4 | Dark Red | \u00A74 |
| §5 | Dark Purple | \u00A75 |
| §6 | Gold | \u00A76 |
| §7 | Gray | \u00A77 |
| §8 | Dark Gray | \u00A78 |
| §9 | Blue | \u00A79 |
| §a | Green | \u00A7a |
| §b | Aqua | \u00A7b |
| §c | Red | \u00A7c |
| §d | Light Purple | \u00A7d |
| §e | Yellow | \u00A7e |
| §f | White | \u00A7f |
| §k | Obfuscated | \u00A7k |
| §l | Bold | \u00A7l |
| §m | Strikethrough | \u00A7m |
| §n | Underline | \u00A7n |
| §o | Italic | \u00A7o |
| §r | Reset | \u00A7r |
| \n | Extra line | \n |
The best part is that these codes work perfectly with the older versions of the Minecraft as well. To take a step further you can change the colors of the server name and world names also using these codes.
To colorize the server name, you need to go to the .minecraft directory and open the server.dat file in NBT editor. Now look for the NameAttribute in this file and simply add the color code just before the name tag. Same can be done with the format codes too.
These codes are also usable in the language packs but sometimes it does not displays some special characters correctly. You will see a ? if a character is not recognizable in the language pack.
Minecraft Color Codes Generator / Tester
With so many color codes and formatting codes available, it gets difficult especially while playing an intense combat mode fight on Minecraft.
With this little tool, you can literally skip memorizing all the color codes!
The Minecraft Color Code Generator tool gives you the freedom to generate pre-formatted and colored text in just a few clicks.
Gamers also use this tool to test their color codes and format codes without having to send chat messages repeatedly or changing the server.properties file again and again.
Using MC Color Codes Generator
The tool is really very easy to use with a simple user interface.
The top section of the tool is divided into two parts. The left part has colored buttons for each color code while the right part has buttons to insert the formatting codes.
Just below the buttons section, you have the text field where you can enter your chat/MOTD text. You can also see the preview of the text right beside the text field.
To generate the desired code, first, click the color button (or the format button) from the top section. Then, add the text you want in the text field. The preview will appear immediately.
Now, you can copy the code for the colored/formatted text in the Minecraft game. Simple as that!
You can also change the background of the preview text. There are three options – default Minecraft background, grey and dark purple.
And that’s all! If you have any questions related to Minecraft color codes or formatting code, just drop them in the comments section below.