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Defining Your First Impression

The “Message of the Day” (MOTD) is the primary text displayed immediately beneath your server’s name in the multiplayer lobby. Beyond a simple greeting, a well-architected MOTD serves as a important marketing tool that attracts players by highlighting your server’s unique features, active game modes, or ongoing community events. The FREAKHOSTING Game Panel provides full access to your configuration files, enabling you to implement complex, stylized MOTDs that differentiate your server from the competition.

Difficulty

Beginner

Time

3 Minutes

Configuration via server.properties

The core MOTD is defined within the engine’s primary property registry.
1

Access the File Manager

Log in to the Game Panel and navigate to the Files tab.
2

Edit Properties

Locate and open the server.properties file.
3

Locate the Variable

Find the line starting with motd=.
4

Apply Customization

Enter your desired message after the equals sign. To apply changes, Restart your server via the console.

Advanced Stylized Formatting

Minecraft uses specific Unicode escape sequences to render colors and font styles within the server.properties file.

Common Escape Codes

EffectUnicode Sequence
Red\u00A7c
Gold\u00A76
Blue\u00A79
White\u00A7f
Bold\u00A7l
Implementation Example: motd=\u00A76FREAKHOSTING \u00A7f| \u00A7cSurvival Evolved \u00A7l[NEW]

Strategic Branding Tools

Manually calculating Unicode escape sequences can be technically demanding. We highly recommend using visual design tools such as mcmotd.cc or minecraft.tools. These platforms allow you to design your MOTD in a real-time preview and instantly generate the correctly formatted “Server Properties” code for you to paste.
Standard MOTDs support up to two lines of text. To initialize a second line, use the newline escape sequence \n within your string.

Dynamic MOTDs

If you require more advanced functionality, such as alternating messages or player-count dependent MOTDs, we recommend installing a specialized plugin like MiniMOTD or ServerListPlus via our Plugin Management System.

Need Extra Help?

If you encounter any issues, our support team is ready to assist:

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Last Updated: January 2026 | Minecraft: Visuals optimized.