How to write a Minecraft server description players read

A Minecraft server description that players read opens with what makes your server different in one or two plain sentences, then answers what a player wants to know before joining: what you play, how progress and rules work, who runs it and how to get started. Write it fresh for each place it appears, because your MOTD, your listing and your website do different jobs, and the same text pasted on five server lists helps on one at most.

For this guide we checked all 211 descriptions on serverlist.net for the words they share and the facts players ask about. The median is 395 characters, and the average 617. On 18 October 2026 that was 416 and 629 characters, roughly 70 and 100 words. Here is what they say, and what they leave out:

The words at the top of the table are used by so many servers that they tell a reader nothing. The facts at the bottom are the ones players ask about in Discord tickets, and few listings answer them. Crossplay is the starkest case: only 37 of 134 listings with a Bedrock address say anything about Bedrock, mobile or console in their text (39 of 142 on 18 October 2026).

Three texts: MOTD, listing, website

Each text meets a different reader at a different moment, so each needs its own words.

The MOTD is a sign over the door. The listing is the conversation at the door. The website is the handbook for people who already came in: full rules, the store, the wiki, ban appeals. A weak listing is usually a MOTD stretched to 400 characters or a website rules page pasted into a box.

Lead with what is different

Your first sentence is the one players read. Here is a typical opening, made up for this guide:

Welcome to ExampleCraft, the best friendly community server with custom plugins and amazing staff!

Every word in it could describe a thousand servers. Compare:

Thirty-day lifesteal seasons where withdrawn hearts can be sold at a player market, and the top three heart holders keep a crown cosmetic into the next season.

Within one sentence the reader knows the mode, the season length, the twist and a reason to care about winning. To write yours:

• Name the mode in the first sentence, using the word players search for: SMP, lifesteal, factions, towny.
• Give one fact a competitor cannot copy by changing their name: a rule, a number, a map, an event.
• Use numbers you control: season length, world border, faction size cap, starting hearts. Never a player count, which changes by the minute and which the list already shows live.
• Say who it is for: an age range, a region or time zone, a language, "new players welcome" or "experienced PvP players".
• Skip the adjectives. "Friendly" and "active" are for reviews to say about you.

A structure that works

On serverlist.net, the description is followed by optional sections, each a prompt with its own box of 80 to 1,500 characters. They appear on your server page in this order when filled:

1. What makes your server different. The one-sentence twist, expanded.
2. Gameplay and modes. What a normal session looks like.
3. Economy and progression. How players earn, what ranks mean, what the store sells.
4. Rules and moderation. The three rules people break most, and how bans and appeals work.
5. Community and staff. Who runs it, which time zones staff cover, the languages spoken.
6. Vote rewards. What one vote gives, and any streak reward.
7. Seasons and resets. Length, next date, what carries over.
8. For new players. The first three things to do after joining.

Fill at least two. Sections answer questions where a player can find them, and they let the description itself stay short and about the twist. They are also text that exists nowhere else, which is what search engines look for when they choose which page to show.

Examples by mode

These three servers are fictional, written for this guide. They show the description plus two sections each, at the length we would aim for.

An SMP

Fernwick SMP (fictional). Description: Fernwick is a semi-vanilla SMP for players 16 and over who like to build slowly. The world has a 10,000-block border, no land claims and no teleport commands beyond /spawn, so neighbors meet on the road. We play on Java 26.3, and Bedrock players can join through Geyser.

Rules and moderation: Griefing or stealing means a permanent ban, decided by two staff members, never one. Mods that reveal ores or automate play are not allowed. Appeals go to the appeals channel on our Discord and get an answer within three days.

For new players: Pick up the free road map at spawn. Walk at least 1,000 blocks out before you build, and post your coordinates in the neighbors channel if you want company.

More SMPs, real ones, are on the SMP server list.

A lifesteal server

Redmarrow Lifesteal (fictional). Description: Thirty-day lifesteal seasons on Java and Bedrock. You start with 10 hearts, a kill moves one heart from your victim to you, and you can hold at most 20. Lose your last heart and you are out until a friend crafts a revive beacon or the season ends.

Seasons and resets: Seasons start on the first Saturday of the month at 18:00 UTC. The world, hearts and inventories reset. Cosmetics and the hall of fame carry over.

Rules and moderation: Logging out in combat costs one heart. Alts are banned, and moving hearts between your own accounts counts as alting.

Compare with the lifesteal servers on our list.

A factions server

Ironhold Factions (fictional). Description: Classic factions on six-week maps, with TNT raiding from day one. Factions are capped at 8 members and 2 allies, so a group of friends can compete with the biggest teams. Raids are open at any time except the first 48 hours of a map.

Economy and progression: Spawners and sell wands are earned in game and never sold. The store sells cosmetics and chat colors only.

Vote rewards: Each vote gives one vote crate key (cosmetics and in-game money). Voting on 20 days in a month earns a banner pattern for your faction.

The factions server list shows the real ones.

None of the three says best, friendly, community or custom plugins, and none needs to.

A MOTD that fits two lines

The multiplayer menu shows your MOTD under the server name in two lines. The client wraps text at the width of the row, roughly 45 characters of normal text, and drops anything past the second line, so an overlong first line pushes your second line out of sight. Bold text and wide letters fit fewer characters.

• Line one: name, mode and the hook.
• Line two: what is new, or the editions and versions. A date beats "Join now!".
• Leave out the address. The player is reading it in a list that already has it.

In server.properties, colors are section-sign codes, written as § followed by the code (6 gold, 7 gray, 8 dark gray, a green, l bold, r reset), and \n starts the second line. Current servers read the file as UTF-8, so you can type § directly, and the escape \u00A7 works too. A MOTD for the fictional lifesteal server:

motd=§6§lREDMARROW §r§7Lifesteal, 30-day seasons\n§aSeason 4 starts Saturday §8| §7Java and Bedrock

On a Velocity network players see the proxy's MOTD, not the backend's. It lives in velocity.toml and uses MiniMessage tags instead, such as <gold>, <bold> and <#ffaa00> for a hex color. Check the result in a real client at normal GUI scale before you publish it.

Your serverlist.net listing renders the MOTD in the same multiplayer row, colors and formatting included. Three listed servers as the row shows them right now:

1. 

   Planet Beacon ✦✧✦✧✦ PLANET BEACON ✦✧✦✧✦ Skyblock✦Creative Plots✦Survival SMP✦Earth Towny

   3351/5000

   Up 99.84% in 30 days19 votes in 30 daysplanetbeacon.ddns.net

2. 

   StrawberryMC StrawberryMC [1.21.4+]High quality Minecraft RPGs

   1020/1021

   Up 99.99% in 30 days0 votes in 30 daysplay.strawberrymc.net

3. 

   PlumSMP PLUMSMP NETWORK • 1.7.2 ➜ 26.2 •Practice PvP • KitPvP • Lifesteal • Survival • GenPVP

   427/5000

   Up 99.41% in 30 days9 votes in 30 daysplumsmp.net

See the full list

Measured 19 Oct 2026, 22:55 UTCHow we measure

Why one description on every list hurts

When the same text appears on several websites, search engines generally pick one copy to show and filter out the rest, and the copy they pick is usually on the strongest site. When we checked on 17 October 2026, exact-phrase searches for the descriptions of two of our most voted listings found each one word for word on three other server lists. Pasting your description everywhere means your listing on all but one list contributes nothing in search, and a player comparing lists reads the same paragraph four times and learns nothing new.

You do not need five different servers' worth of text. Keep the facts and change the writing: a different opening sentence, different sections filled, an example or event that only appears on that list. Text written only for serverlist.net is what gives your page here a reason to rank. On serverlist.net, your server page is offered to search engines once the description and sections add up to 400 characters, or 200 when five or more players are usually online.

Banner and screenshots

The banner is 468 by 60 pixels, the size server lists have used for years, and our upload cropper produces exactly that. At 60 pixels tall there is room for two things: your name, large, and one image that shows the mode. A third element turns into noise. If you have no banner yet, the banner maker builds one in the browser.

Mojang's usage guidelines apply here too: no Minecraft logo or lettering that imitates it, nothing that suggests Mojang or Microsoft endorse you, and "Minecraft" may describe your server but not be the main part of its name.

Your listing's accent color is taken from your banner unless you pick your own. It tints the lines and highlights of your page and, by default, the Discord card that a pasted link unfurls into.

Screenshots should show what a new player will see: spawn, an ordinary base, an event, the main menu or GUI. If a screenshot uses shaders, say so in its caption, because most players will not have them.

Checklist before you publish

• The first sentence names the mode and the one thing that is different.
• Versions and editions are stated, and the Bedrock address and port are filled in if you are crossplay.
• At least two sections are filled, including rules or the season schedule.
• Vote rewards are written down, so players know what voting gives.
• No "best", no "number one", no player counts and nothing that implies Mojang approval.
• The text was written for this list, not pasted from another.
• The MOTD fits two lines in a real client.
• The banner reads at 60 pixels tall, and screenshots are real gameplay.
• Discord, website and store links are in their own fields, not buried in the text.
• You read it aloud once. If a sentence would sound odd said to a friend, rewrite it.

When it is ready, add your server or edit your listing from the dashboard. The next step is getting people through the door, which the guide on your first 100 players covers, and votes that arrive reliably, which NuVotifier setup covers.