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

Color codes

Colors

Hex digit to color mapping. Use § followed by the corresponding color letter/number; e.g. §a will give you bright green.

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. If use just a § you will wreck your server.

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.

Sample Code Common Name Foreground Color Background Color
R G B HEX R G B HEX
§0 Black 0 0 0 #000000 0 0 0 #000000
§1 Dark Blue 0 0 170 #0000AA 0 0 42 #00002A
§2 Dark Green 0 170 0 #00AA00 0 42 0 #002A00
§3 Dark Aqua 0 170 170 #00AAAA 0 42 42 #002A2A
§4 Dark Red 170 0 0 #AA0000 42 0 0 #2A0000
§5 Purple 170 0 170 #AA00AA 42 0 42 #2A002A
§6 Gold 255 170 0 #FFAA00 42 42 0 #2A2A00
§7 Grey 170 170 170 #AAAAAA 42 42 42 #2A2A2A
§8 Dark Grey 85 85 85 #555555 21 21 21 #151515
§9 Indigo 85 85 255 #5555FF 21 21 63 #15153F
§a Bright Green 85 255 85 #55FF55 21 63 21 #153F15
§b Aqua 85 255 255 #55FFFF 21 63 63 #153F3F
§c Red 255 85 85 #FF5555 63 21 21 #3F1515
§d Pink 255 85 255 #FF55FF 63 21 63 #3F153F
§e Yellow 255 255 85 #FFFF55 63 63 21 #3F3F15
§f White 255 255 255 #FFFFFF 63 63 63 #3F3F3F

Formatting codes

Text can also be formatted using the § symbol and then a letter.

To make § on most US English keyboards simply hold down ALT + 7 + 8 + 9 then let go of all the keys and § will appear. On a Mac US keyboard, hold down Option and press 6.

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: XY, where as

§nX§cY (§n X §c Y)

Would be seen as: XY


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

E.g.: §nXXX§rYYY, would be seen as: XXXYYY

Code Common Name
§k Random name
§l Bold
§m Strike
§n Underlined
§o Italics
§r Reset

Note: The random characters placed after §k will always be the same width as the original character (to stop the width of the text changing).

Example Text

The following text can be pasted into a Book and Quill as an example:

Book Style Operators
k Random §k:Text§r
l Bold §l:Text§r
m Striked §m:Text§r
n Underlined §n:Text§r
o Italic §o:Text§r
§4§l§m§n§o4(Red) Bold Strike Underline Italic§r
§0Color: §00§11§22§33§44§55§66§77 §88§99§aa§bb§cc§dd§ee§ff§0.§r
§0r Reset
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