How to Fully Customize Your Server MOTD

Customize your server list MOTD, favicon, player count, and hover text with multiple switchable profiles.

Customize your server list MOTD, favicon, player count, and hover text with multiple switchable profiles.

The server list entry (MOTD, player count, favicon, hover text) is the first thing anyone sees before connecting. By default you're limited to a static MOTD in server.properties. AdvancedServerList gives you full control over all of it: multiple profiles that switch based on conditions, MiniMessage formatting, and per-player customization using cached IP data.

Requirements

• A Paper server (1.20+), or a BungeeCord/Waterfall/Velocity proxy
• PlaceholderAPI (optional, enables placeholders from other plugins in profiles)

Installation

1. Download the plugin for your platform from Modrinth.
2. Stop your server from the MCServerHost dashboard.
3. Upload the jar to plugins/ via the File Manager.
4. Start your server. AdvancedServerList generates the following structure:

plugins/AdvancedServerList/
├── favicons/
├── profiles/
│   └── default.yml
└── config.yml

What Each File Does

profiles/default.yml configures your server list appearance. Each file in profiles/ is a separate profile. The plugin picks the one with the highest priority whose condition returns true. Every profile can set:

• motd: up to two lines, full MiniMessage formatting including gradients and RGB colors
• favicon: a PNG from favicons/, a direct URL, or a player username to show their head
• playerCount: hide the count, replace the hover list, set custom numbers, or add an offset to the max
• condition: an expression that must be true for the profile to activate (e.g. show a different MOTD to banned players)
• priority: higher number = checked first

favicons/ is where you drop PNG images to use as server icons. Reference them by filename in any profile.

config.yml controls plugin-level settings: player caching, update checks, favicon cache duration, and what to disable during Maintenance mode.

After editing any profile, run /asl reload to apply changes without a restart.

Commands & Permissions

For the full profile option reference, conditions, expressions, and placeholder list, visit the AdvancedServerList wiki.

Conclusion

AdvancedServerList takes five minutes to set up and immediately makes your server look more polished in the multiplayer list. Start with default.yml, set a custom MOTD and favicon, then add more profiles as you need them.

If you run into any issues on MCServerHost, join our Discord server or reach us at support@mcserverhost.com.

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