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Chat Formatting

FactionsChat supports various formatting options to style your messages with colors, formatting codes, and more. This guide covers all available formatting features.

Permissions: Almost every formatting feature is locked behind a permission (for example factions.chat.color, factions.chat.format, and MiniMessage-specific nodes). If you type codes and they show literally (e.g. &c instead of red text), you usually lack the matching permission - ask your server admin. A full list is in Permissions.

Config gates: Even with permission, the server must allow styling in config.yml: ChatSettings.AllowColorCodes (legacy colors / formats / hex), ChatSettings.AllowClickableLinks (URLs), and ChatSettings.AllowClickableLinksUnderline (URL underline). Admins can enable permissions for players but keep these false to disable formatting globally.

Spigot vs Paper: Legacy ampersand (&) and section (§) codes, hex colors, and automatic URLs work on both Spigot and Paper. MiniMessage tags (angle-bracket markup such as <green>hello</green>) are parsed only on Paper; on Spigot they are treated as plain text.

MiniMessage is Paper-only

If your server runs Spigot (or a fork without Paper’s chat stack), MiniMessage tags in chat will not be interpreted - they will show literally. Use legacy & codes on those servers.

Permissions + config

Permission = whether you may use a feature. Config = whether the server allows that class of features at all. You need both where applicable. Details: Permissions.

Color Codes

FactionsChat supports formatting your chat message text with colors when you have factions.chat.color and ChatSettings.AllowColorCodes is true in config.yml.

Basic Colors

Use the ampersand symbol (&) followed by a color code to change text color.

&0 = Black          &8 = Dark Gray
&1 = Dark Blue      &9 = Blue
&2 = Dark Green     &a = Green
&3 = Dark Aqua      &b = Aqua
&4 = Dark Red       &c = Red
&5 = Dark Purple    &d = Light Purple
&6 = Gold           &e = Yellow
&7 = Gray           &f = White

Without factions.chat.color (or with AllowColorCodes: false), these sequences stay plain text in chat.

Hex/RGB Colors

For more precise color control, use hex color codes with &#:

Example: 

&#RRGGBB

Where: - RR = Red value (00-FF) - GG = Green value (00-FF) - BB = Blue value (00-FF)

Hex in chat requires factions.chat.rgb in addition to factions.chat.color (and AllowColorCodes), unless your admin sets things differently.

Finding Hex Colors

Use online color pickers (like htmlcolorcodes.com or colorpicker.me) to find hex codes for any color you want.

Format Codes

Format codes modify the style of your text. factions.chat.format controls bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, and reset-style format codes; factions.chat.magic is required for &k (obfuscated). Same AllowColorCodes gate as colors.

&l = Bold
&m = Strikethrough
&n = Underline
&o = Italic
&k = Magic/Obfuscated (requires factions.chat.magic)
&r = Reset (removes all formatting)

Example combining multiple formats: 

&lBold text &r&oItalic text &r&nUnderlined text

Combining Formatting

You can combine colors and formatting codes to create rich text - the color must be specified before the format. You still need factions.chat.color for the color part and factions.chat.format for &l / &o / &n / &m (and factions.chat.magic for &k).

Color + Format

Bold and colored: 

&c&lBold Red Text

Italic and colored: 

&9&oItalic Blue Text

Reset Formatting

Use &r to reset all formatting and colors to return to default. Reset does not require a separate permission beyond what you already needed for the codes before the reset.

&c&lBold red text &rback to normal &9blue text

Reset Best Practice

Always use &r before applying new formatting to avoid unexpected results from previous formatting codes.

MiniMessage (Paper only)

On Paper, FactionsChat parses MiniMessage in the same chat line as legacy & / § codes. Each tag family has its own factions.chat.* permission - see Permissions under MiniMessage & advanced chat. Legacy rules above still apply to & segments.

You can mix a legacy prefix with MiniMessage in the message body (though we typically advise sticking to one or the other), for example:

&cImportant: <green>read the rules</green> <gray>(thanks!)</gray>

Named and hex colors

MiniMessage supports named colors, gradients, and more. Examples:

<red>Red text</red>
<#55FF55>Custom hex</#55FF55>
<gradient:#ff0000:#0000ff>Rainbow-ish title</gradient>

Named / simple colors still need factions.chat.color (and config). Tags like <gradient>, <rainbow>, <transition>, <pride>, <font> have dedicated permissions - your admin grants them explicitly (they are not implied only by factions.chat.color).

Decorations and reset

Common tags (aliases may exist - see Paper’s MiniMessage docs):

<bold> or <b>
<italic> or <i>
<underlined> or <u>
<strikethrough> or <st>
<obfuscated> or <obf>
<reset> or <r>

Decoration tags follow factions.chat.format (and factions.chat.magic for obfuscated), same idea as legacy &l / &o / ….

<reset> / <r> clears MiniMessage styling; behavior can differ slightly from legacy &r when mixed with Adventure components. Prefer <reset> between MiniMessage sections if results look "sticky."

Interactive tags (permissions)

These MiniMessage features are gated by permissions (defaults are often op - ask your admin). Full list: Permissions.

Feature Typical tags Permission (examples)
Hover <hover:show_text:'...'> and related factions.chat.hover
Clicks (not plain URLs) <click:run_command:...>, suggest_command, copy_to_clipboard, … factions.chat.click
Insert (shift-click paste) <insert:...> factions.chat.insert
Keybind <key:key.jump> factions.chat.keybind
Translatable <lang:...>, <translate>, … factions.chat.translatable
Rainbow / gradient / transition / font / pride <rainbow>, <gradient:...>, … factions.chat.rainbow, .gradient, .transition, .font, .pride, …
Selector / score / NBT / data <selector>, <score>, … factions.chat.selector, .score, .nbt
Sprite / head (newer MiniMessage) <sprite:...>, <head:...> factions.chat.sprite, .head

Blacklisted commands: On Paper, run/suggest click payloads can be blocked by ChatSettings.BlacklistedMiniMessageCommands in config.yml. Players with factions.chat.click.bypass skip that check.

Plain URLs

Plain https://… links need factions.chat.url and ChatSettings.AllowClickableLinks. They are not the same as MiniMessage’s <click:open_url:…> (admins may still configure both).

What you see without permission

If you use a MiniMessage tag you don’t have permission for, FactionsChat keeps that tag as literal visible text (it is not parsed into styling). Legacy & codes you’re not allowed to use behave similarly - they stay visible instead of applying color.

Authoritative MiniMessage reference

Tag names, arguments, and escaping rules change with Adventure/MiniMessage versions. When in doubt, use the official Paper MiniMessage format documentation.

URLs in Chat

If your server allows it, you can send clickable URLs in chat (factions.chat.url + ChatSettings.AllowClickableLinks):

Check out our website: https://example.com

Players can click the URL to open it in their browser. Underline style depends on ChatSettings.AllowClickableLinksUnderline.

Troubleshooting

Formatting codes aren't working

  • You may not have factions.chat.color, factions.chat.format, etc. - see Permissions
  • ChatSettings.AllowColorCodes may be false in config.yml
  • Check that you're using & not other symbols
  • Try using &r before your formatting codes
  • Make sure there's no space between & and the code

Colors look different than expected

  • Different Minecraft versions may render colors slightly differently
  • Some texture packs or mods can affect color display
  • Lighting in-game can affect how colors appear

Hex colors not working

  • Ensure you have factions.chat.rgb (and usually factions.chat.color) plus AllowColorCodes
  • Check the format: &#RRGGBB (no spaces)
  • Verify the server supports hex colors (requires newer Minecraft versions)
  • Try basic color codes first to confirm formatting works

MiniMessage tags show as plain text

  • Confirm the server is Paper (or a Paper-based fork with the same chat pipeline) - MiniMessage is not applied on Spigot-only servers
  • You may lack the specific factions.chat.* permission for that tag family - see Permissions
  • Check for typos; unclosed <tag> sections can look "broken" in chat