Minecraft Color Codes
Minecraft uses the section sign (§) followed by a single character to change text color
or formatting. These codes work in server.properties MOTDs, chat, signs, books, team prefixes,
scoreboards, and most plugin messages. Click any code below to copy it to your clipboard.
Copy format
Choose how codes are copied to your clipboard — pick the format your config file expects.
Color Codes
All 16 vanilla Minecraft colors. Click any row to copy.
| Preview | Code | Name | Hex | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| §0 | Black | #000000 | ||
| §1 | Dark Blue | #0000AA | ||
| §2 | Dark Green | #00AA00 | ||
| §3 | Dark Aqua | #00AAAA | ||
| §4 | Dark Red | #AA0000 | ||
| §5 | Dark Purple | #AA00AA | ||
| §6 | Gold | #FFAA00 | ||
| §7 | Gray | #AAAAAA | ||
| §8 | Dark Gray | #555555 | ||
| §9 | Blue | #5555FF | ||
| §a | Green | #55FF55 | ||
| §b | Aqua | #55FFFF | ||
| §c | Red | #FF5555 | ||
| §d | Light Purple | #FF55FF | ||
| §e | Yellow | #FFFF55 | ||
| §f | White | #FFFFFF |
Formatting Codes
Text style modifiers. Combine with a color code for styled color text. Click any row to copy.
| Preview | Code | Name | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| DustBowl | §l | Bold | |
| DustBowl | §o | Italic | |
| DustBowl | §n | Underline | |
| DustBowl | §m | Strikethrough | |
| D?stB?wl | §k | Obfuscated | |
| DustBowl | §r | Reset |
How it works
The section sign (§) is Minecraft's escape character for text formatting.
When the client encounters § followed by a valid code character, it applies
the corresponding color or style to everything that follows — until another code, a reset (§r),
or a newline.
server.properties and plain text configs accept § directly.
JSON files (datapacks, resource packs, command blocks using raw JSON text) typically
need the escaped Unicode form \u00A7 since § is outside basic ASCII.
Bukkit, Spigot, Paper, and Purpur plugin configs use &
as a stand-in, which is translated to § at runtime via ChatColor.translateAlternateColorCodes('&', ...).
Bedrock Edition supports the basic 16 color codes but does not support all formatting codes —
underline (§n) and strikethrough (§m) are ignored on Bedrock clients.
Obfuscated (§k) is supported but renders differently.
Color codes reset all active formatting. If you want bold, colored text, you must specify the color first
and then the format code: §c§lImportant — not §l§cImportant.
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