HxMOTD

️ HxMOTD ️

Image Banners • Animated MOTDs • Full RGB Text

Paper • Purpur • Folia • Velocity • BungeeCord

Introduction

HxMOTD turns your server-list entry into a real showcase! Instead of two plain lines of text, players on Minecraft 1.21.9 and newer (up to the latest 26.x releases) can see a full-width image banner made from your own PNG.

Older clients still get a clean, colorful text MOTD, so nobody is left out.

Want more? Upload several images and let HxMOTD rotate between them on a timer, mix in text frames, and manage everything with a single command.

✨ Features

️ Image Banner MOTD — Turn a 264×16 PNG into a banner for 1.21.9+ clients.

️ Animated MOTDs — Upload multiple banners, configure their display durations, and let them rotate automatically.

Full RGB Text — Supports `&c&l` color codes, `&#rrggbb` hex colors, and `<bold>`-style formatting tags.

Smart Fallback — Older clients see your fallback text, or the normal MOTD if fallback is disabled.

⚡ Simple Commands — Generate banners using `/hxmotd generate normal` and `/hxmotd generate animated`.

Live Status — Check image generation, animation rotation, progress, and the last ping.

Console Banner — Displays status, license, author, and version information on startup and shutdown.

Multi-Platform Support — One JAR for Paper, Purpur, Folia, Velocity, and BungeeCord.

Lightweight — No database or additional dependencies.


Supported Platforms

✔ Paper / Purpur / Folia (1.21+) — Image banners, animated banners, text MOTDs, and commands.

✔ Velocity / BungeeCord / Waterfall — Colorful text MOTDs, animated text frames, licensing, and commands.

ℹ Image banners require a Paper-based server: Paper, Purpur, or Folia.

☕ Proxy servers require Java 17 or newer.

How to Use

1️⃣ Install

Place the HxMOTD JAR into your `plugins` folder and start the server.

2️⃣ Get a Free MineSkin API Key

1. Create a free account at account.mineskin.org.
2. Open the API keys page and create a key.
3. Paste it into `config.yml`:

Then run `/hxmotd reload`.

3️⃣ Create Your Banner

Place your PNG (264×16 recommended) in the plugin folder as `264x16.png`, or change `banner.source-file` in the configuration.

Run:

Track the progress using `/hxmotd status`. Once generation is complete, your banner is ready!

4️⃣ Animated MOTDs ️

1. Upload your PNGs into `plugins/HxMOTD/motds/`.
2. Run `/hxmotd generate animated`, or `/hxmotd generate animated <name>` to generate one image.
3. Configure your animation in `config.yml`:

Each frame is displayed for its configured duration in seconds. After the final frame, the animation starts again from the beginning.

Finish with `/hxmotd reload`.

5️⃣ Velocity / BungeeCord

Edit `config.yml` to configure text lines and animated text frames, then run `/hxmotd reload`.

Commands & Permissions

Commands

Build the single image banner.

Generate every PNG in `motds/`, or only the specified image.

View completed images, animation rotation, generation progress, and last ping.

List the PNG files in `motds/`.

Reload the configuration, banners, and animation.

Display the license status.

Show the command list.

Permission: `hxmotd.admin` (default: operators).

On Velocity and BungeeCord, the available commands are `reload`, `license`, and `help`.

Text Formatting

HxMOTD supports these formatting codes in fallback text and animated text frames.

Minecraft Colors

`&0` through `&f` — Standard Minecraft colors.

`&#rrggbb` — Any RGB hex color, for example `&#00d4ff`.

Formatting Codes

• `&l` — Bold
• `&o` — Italic
• `&n` — Underline
• `&m` — Strikethrough
• `&k` — Obfuscated
• `&r` — Reset

Tag Formatting

`<bold>`, `<italic>`, `<underlined>`, `<strikethrough>`, `<obfuscated>`, and `<reset>`.

Short forms are also supported: `<b>`, `<i>`, `<u>`, `<st>`, `<obf>`, and `<r>`. Close tags using their corresponding closing forms, such as `</bold>`.

Example

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I only see text, not an image banner.

A: Image banners require a Minecraft 1.21.9 or newer client. Older clients receive the fallback text. If a newer client still sees text, run `/hxmotd generate normal`, ping your server, and check the Last ping line using `/hxmotd status`.

Q: Banner generation says my MineSkin key is missing.

A: Follow Step 3 above to configure your API key, then run `/hxmotd reload`.

Q: Can I disable the fallback text?

A: Yes. Set `fallback.enabled: false`. Older clients will then see your normal `server.properties` MOTD.