Formatting codes

Text in Minecraft can be formatted with the section sign (§).

Color codes


Messages sent from the server to the client can contain color codes, which allow coloring of text for various purposes.

A section sign (§) followed by a hex digit in the message tells the client to switch colors while displaying text.

It is important to note that a § at the end of a message that is not followed by a hex digit will crash all clients that receive it, so it is a must to sanitize chat messages received from clients.

Also, §k will give a bit of scrolling text, which is used in a Splash and the End Poem.

Also §l §m §n and §o creates bold, striked, underlined and italic text, respectively, while §r resets any set states.

Formatting codes
Text can also be formatted using the § symbol (Can be substituted with '&' on multiplayer servers since Minecraft 1.2 approx.) and then a letter.

If a color code is used after a formatting code, the formatting code will be disabled beyond the color code point.

Example §cX§nY (§c X §n Y)

Would be seen as: X Y, where as

§nX§cY (§n X §c Y)

Would be seen as: X Y 

§r can be used to reset all texts format beyond it.

Eg: §nXXX§rYYY, would be seen as: XXX YYY

Note: Certain characters placed after §k, such as :, will make a different random pattern appear. Therefore, The following code looks quite cool: §r§k:§ro§k:§r, ending up as something like ¦o¦ but the ¦'s will flicker between the following: ;:!¦,'¡