What is the MOTD of a Minecraft server?

The MOTD (Message Of The Day) is the text displayed next to your server's name in the server list. It is the first thing players see before they even connect.

Do I need to restart the server after changing the MOTD?

Yes. Nukkit only reads the server.properties file at startup: without a restart, the old MOTD keeps showing in the server list.

Can I use colors in the Nukkit MOTD?

Yes, with Minecraft formatting codes starting with § (for example §a for green or §l for bold), directly in the motd= line of the server.properties file.

How to Change the MOTD on a Nukkit Server

The MOTD - short for "Message Of The Day" - is the small text displayed next to your server's name in the Minecraft Bedrock server list. It is the very first thing players see before they even connect: a clear, catchy MOTD instantly gives your server an identity, while the default A Nukkit Powered Server looks a bit abandoned. Good news: on a Nukkit server, changing it takes less than five minutes, straight from your panel, with no software to install.

Requirements

An active Minecraft Nukkit server (Bedrock Edition) whose files you manage.
Your panel login credentials, sent by email when you ordered.
Five minutes of your time - no particular technical knowledge required.

Changing the MOTD from the panel

First, you need to go to your game panel, log in, and follow these steps:

Select your Nukkit server in the list of your services to open its console.
Click on the "File manager" tab to access your server's files.
Find the file named "server.properties" at the root of your files and click on it: it opens directly in the panel's editor, no need to download it.
By default, you should find a line that says motd=A Nukkit Powered Server.
Replace the text A Nukkit Powered Server with the MOTD you want, for example: motd=My awesome server. Do not add quotation marks: everything after the = sign is displayed as-is.
Depending on your Nukkit version, a sub-motd= line may also be present: it is the second line of text shown under the server name in the list. You can customize it the same way.
Once you have found the perfect message, click on the "Save Content" button to save your changes, then restart your server with the panel's "Restart" button. This restart is essential: Nukkit only re-reads server.properties at startup.

Adding colors and style

The MOTD accepts Minecraft formatting codes, which all start with the § character:

§a for light green, §c for red, §b for cyan, §e for yellow;
§l for bold, §o for italics.

Example: motd=§l§aMy Awesome Server §f- §e24/7 Survival. Keep it light: two well-chosen colors look better than an unreadable rainbow, and a short text works best since the server list truncates MOTDs that are too long.

Common issues

The new MOTD does not show up. In the vast majority of cases, the server simply was not restarted after saving. Also check that you clicked "Save Content" before leaving the editor, then refresh the server list in your game: the Minecraft client sometimes caches the old value for a few moments.

Accents or symbols display incorrectly. Some special characters (emojis, exotic symbols) do not render well in the server list. If your characters show up garbled, retype the line directly in the panel's editor instead of pasting text from a word processor, and stick to standard characters.

The server no longer starts after the change. You probably modified or deleted another line of server.properties by accident. Reopen the file and check that every line keeps the key=value format, with no space before the =. If in doubt, our support team is there to help you 7/7.

In short: open server.properties, edit the motd= line, save, restart. Two minutes flat to give your server a real identity in the Bedrock server list.

Don't have a Minecraft server yet? Discover our Minecraft hosting plans with intuitive panel and 7/7 support, from €3.99/month.