Change Minecraft Server Name: MOTD, Icon and Domain

Q: How do I add a second line to the MOTD?

Put \n where the line should break, for example motd=First line\nSecond line. The server list shows two lines at most.

Q: Do I need to restart after changing the MOTD?

Yes. The server reads server.properties when it starts, so stop it, save the file and start it again, then refresh the server list.

To change Minecraft server name as other players see it, edit the motd line in server.properties, save and restart. The bold title above it in the server list is chosen by each player when they add your server, so what you really control is the MOTD (the message under the title), the server icon and the address people type.

This guide is for Java Edition servers running Vanilla, Paper, Purpur, Fabric or Forge: all of them read the same server.properties file.

What “server name” means in Minecraft

Open the Multiplayer screen and look at any entry. According to the Minecraft Wiki, each row has four parts, and only some of them come from your server:

Part	Who sets it	Where
Bold title (first line)	Each player	The “Server Name” box when they click Add Server
MOTD (gray text below)	You	`motd` in `server.properties`
Icon on the left	You	`server-icon.png` in the server folder
Address	You	The IP:port or a domain pointing to it

So when someone asks how to rename their server, the honest answer is: change the MOTD for everyone, and ask your friends to edit the title on their side (select the server, click Edit, type the new name). A good MOTD and a domain do the job a “name” would.

How to change Minecraft server name (MOTD) step by step

Stop the server. On TheGameHosting, open it in the panel and press Stop in the Console tab.
Open the Files tab and click server.properties to edit it in the browser. On your own PC, open the file with a plain text editor.
Find the line motd=A Minecraft Server (that is the default text).
Replace the text after the equals sign, for example motd=Friends SMP - Survival 26.x. Keep it under 59 characters.
Save the file and press Start.
In Minecraft, open Multiplayer and click Refresh. The new message shows under the title.

server.properties

motd=Friends SMP - Survival 26.x

The Minecraft Wiki warns that a MOTD over 59 characters can make the server list report a communication error, so short beats clever. Non-ASCII characters such as ♥ are supported.

Colors, bold text and a second line

The MOTD accepts the legacy formatting codes: the section sign § followed by a color or style character. Typing § straight into the file can go wrong with some editors, so the safe way is to write its Unicode escape, \u00A7, which the server turns into § when it reads the file. A \n starts the second line.

server.properties

motd=\u00A76\u00A7lFriends SMP\u00A7r \u00A77- survival\n\u00A7aWhitelist on \u00A78| \u00A7bjoin on Discord

Code	Result	Code	Result
`§6`	Gold	`§l`	Bold
`§a`	Green	`§o`	Italic
`§b`	Aqua	`§n`	Underline
`§c`	Red	`§k`	Scrambled text
`§7`	Gray	`§r`	Reset to default

Two habits save time. Put the color code before the style code (§6§l, not §l§6), because a color code resets the styles before it. And end a styled part with §r so the rest of the line goes back to normal. The 59-character advice counts what players see, but keep the raw line short too: every code adds characters.

Add a server icon

The icon is the picture left of the MOTD. The Minecraft Wiki describes it as a 64×64 pixel image named server-icon.png, placed in the server's working directory (the same folder as server.properties). Without it, the list shows a gray default icon.

Make a square PNG and resize it to exactly 64×64 pixels.
Name it server-icon.png in lowercase.
Upload it to the main server folder with the Files tab (drag it in) or over SFTP.
Restart the server and refresh the server list.

If the icon does not appear, the usual causes are a wrong size, a name like server-icon.png.png (hidden file extensions on Windows) or a file saved as JPG and renamed. Open it in an image editor and export it again as PNG.

Other “names” people mean

Depending on who asks, “server name” can also mean one of these:

The world name. level-name in server.properties is the world folder name (default world). Changing it does not rename your world: the server looks for a folder with the new name and, if there is none, generates a brand-new world. Rename the folder too if you want to keep your builds, and make a backup first.
The address. An IP and port are hard to remember. A domain such as play.yourname.com works like a name everyone types the same way. Our guide to adding a custom domain to a Minecraft server covers the DNS records.
The name in your hosting panel. That label is only for you. In a Pterodactyl-based panel like ours you can change it in the Settings tab; players never see it.

Tips for a MOTD people click

Lead with what makes the server different: the game mode, the version or the rule (“Whitelist only”, “Hardcore”, “Modded 26.x”).
Use the second line for the call to action: how to get in, a Discord, the season.
Two or three colors are enough. Scrambled text (§k) is hard to read on a small screen.
Hide the player count only if you have a reason: hide-online-players=true stops the server from sending the player list on status requests.

If you are still setting things up, how to make a Minecraft Java server walks through the rest of server.properties, and the whitelist guide explains how to keep a friends-only server closed.

Rename your server in minutes with TheGameHosting

On a TheGameHosting Minecraft server you never hunt for the file: server.properties opens in the Files tab, the icon uploads by drag and drop, and the Subdomain tab gives your server an address that reads like a name. The server is ready about 60 seconds after payment, runs 24/7 without your PC on, and you share the IP:port the panel shows, with no ports to open. Plans start at $1.90 USD/month on AMD Ryzen 9950X and 7950X3D hardware with DDoS protection in Dallas and Amsterdam. See the plans and pricing and use code FULL2026 for 15% off for life.

FAQ

Can I change the server name that appears in bold in the server list?

No. That title is whatever each player typed in the Server Name box when adding the server. You control the MOTD under it, the icon and the address. Ask players to click Edit on the entry to rename it on their side.

Why does my Minecraft MOTD show strange characters?

The file was saved with a different encoding than the server expects. Write formatting codes as \u00A7 instead of the literal § and the problem goes away.

How do I add a second line to the MOTD?

Put \n where the line should break, for example motd=First line\nSecond line. The server list shows two lines at most.

Do I need to restart after changing the MOTD?

Yes. The server reads server.properties when it starts, so stop it, save the file and start it again, then refresh the server list.

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Written by TheGameHosting Team, the people who run our servers in Dallas and Amsterdam and answer your tickets.

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