Chat Formatting

Minecraft's chat formatting system lets you add colors, styles, and interactive elements to your messages. When used with Command Maker aliases, you can create polished, professional-looking command feedback for your players.

The Section Sign (§)

All Minecraft formatting begins with the section sign (§), a special character that tells the game the next character is a color or format code. When typing in-game, you represent this with the ampersand symbol (&), which Command Maker automatically converts to the proper section sign.

Color Codes

Minecraft provides 16 standard colors, ranging from basic black to bright white. Each color is represented by a hex digit or letter after the section sign.

See the full Color Codes reference page for a complete table. Here are the most commonly used colors:

Formatting Codes

Beyond colors, Minecraft supports special formatting codes that change text appearance:

Combining Colors and Formats

You can stack color and formatting codes to create rich text. Each code applies to all text that follows it until another code overrides it:

# Simple colored message
/alias add colored say &aHello &eworld!

# Bold and colored
/alias add alert say &c&lWARNING: &r&7This is important!

# Multi-color formatted message
/alias add info say &9&nInfo: &r&bServer &ewill &crestart &rin &d10 &rminutes.

# Using obfuscated text for effect
/alias add secret say &5&k|||| &r&dSecret Message &5&k||||

JSON Text Components (tellraw)

For advanced formatting, Minecraft's /tellraw command uses JSON to create rich text with hover events, click actions, and nested components. You can use these in your Command Maker aliases for professional-looking output.

Basic tellraw Syntax

tellraw @a {"text":"Hello, world!","color":"gold","bold":true}

Multi-Component Messages

Use an array of JSON objects to build complex messages:

tellraw @a [
  {"text":"[SERVER] ","color":"gray"},
  {"text":"Welcome, ","color":"white"},
  {"text":"PlayerName","color":"gold","bold":true},
  {"text":"!","color":"white"}
]

Using tellraw in Command Maker Aliases

/cmd add welcome tellraw @a [
  {"text":"[SERVER] ","color":"gray"},
  {"text":"Welcome, ","color":"white"},
  {"text":"${player}","color":"gold","bold":true},
  {"text":"!","color":"white"}
]

Clickable Text

Make text interactive with click events. Supported actions:

# Click to run a command
/alias add spawnlink tellraw @a [
  {"text":"[Click to Teleport to Spawn]","color":"green","bold":true,
   "clickEvent":{"action":"run_command","value":"/spawn"}}
]

# Click to suggest a command (fills chat, doesn't execute)
/alias add msg tellraw @a [
  {"text":"${player}, click to message a moderator: ","color":"white"},
  {"text":"[MESSAGE]","color":"yellow",
   "clickEvent":{"action":"suggest_command","value":"/msg "}}
]

# Click to copy text to clipboard
/alias add ip tellraw @a [
  {"text":"Server IP: ","color":"white"},
  {"text":"play.example.com","color":"gold","bold":true,
   "clickEvent":{"action":"copy_to_clipboard","value":"play.example.com"}}
]

Hover Text

Add tooltips that appear when players hover over text:

# Simple hover with text
/alias add hoverdemo tellraw @a [
  {"text":"Hover over me!","color":"gold",
   "hoverEvent":{"action":"show_text","value":"This is a tooltip!"}}
]

# Hover with an item tooltip
/alias add iteminfo tellraw @a [
  {"text":"[DIAMOND SWORD]","color":"aqua","bold":true,
   "hoverEvent":{
     "action":"show_item",
     "value":"{id:\"minecraft:diamond_sword\",Count:1,tag:{Enchantments:[{id:\"minecraft:sharpness\",lvl:5}]}}"
   }}
]

# Hover showing a player's info
/alias add playerinfo tellraw @a [
  {"text":"${player}","color":"gold",
   "hoverEvent":{"action":"show_text","value":"&7Click to teleport to &e${player}"},
   "clickEvent":{"action":"run_command","value":"/tp ${player}"}}
]

Using Formatting in Command Maker Aliases

Basic Color in Alias Target

/cmd add hello say &e[&6Server&e] &fHello &a${player}&f!

When a player runs /hello, they see: [Server] Hello PlayerName! in gold, white, and green.

Colored Syntax Feedback

Create a syntax pattern that gives colored feedback:

{
  "broadcast": {
    "pattern": "/broadcast <message>",
    "description": "Broadcast a colored announcement"
  }
}

# Alias using the syntax:
/alias add broadcast_cmd say &b[&3Announcement&b] &f${broadcast_message}

Rich Error Messages

/cmd add deny say &c&lDenied! &r&7You don't have permission to use this command.

Fancy Kill Feed

/alias add killmsg say &c${player} &7was slain by &c${killer}

Title and Subtitle Formatting

You can use color codes in /title and /subtitle commands too:

/cmd add jointitle title ${player} {"text":"&a&lWelcome!","bold":true,"color":"green"}

# With subtitle
/alias add joinsubtitle title ${player} {"text":"&a&lWelcome!"}
/alias add joinsubtitle subtitle ${player} {"text":"&eEnjoy your stay!","color":"gold"}

# Complete join sequence (runs both)
/alias add joinmsg title ${player} {"text":"&a&lWelcome!"}
/alias add joinmsg subtitle ${player} {"text":"&eEnjoy your stay!"}

JSON Components vs. Legacy Section-Sign Formatting

Common Formatting Patterns

# Error message
say &c&lERROR: &r&7${error_message}

# Success message
say &a&lSUCCESS: &r&7${result}

# Information
say &9&lINFO: &r&7${info_text}

# Warning
say &e&lWARNING: &r&7${warning_text}

# Fancy header
say &8[&m                &8] &6&lSERVER NEWS &8[&m                &8]

# Prefix-based messages
say &8[&bServer&8] &f${player} &7joined the game!

# Colored coordinates announcement
say &e${player} &7is at &bX:${x} &aY:${y} &cZ:${z}

Further Reading

• Minecraft Color Codes - Complete color reference
• Creating Aliases - How to build aliases
• Custom Syntax System - Parameterized commands
• Examples - Real-world alias examples