Advertise your Minecraft server

A server nobody can find stays empty, and a server that looks careless on the multiplayer list gets skipped. Advertising starts with what a player sees before they join: the name, the message line, the icon and an address that is easy to type. Set those up in your panel first, then look at listings and the Mojang rules that apply when you promote a server.

Checked against the Minecraft Wiki, Mojang's Usage Guidelines and its Official Minecraft Server List announcement, and the panel, October 2026.

Make the address easy to type

Players join with an address, and your panel can give you one that needs no port number.

1. In the left rail, open More, then Settings.
2. In the Server address card under Identity, type a name and select Claim.

Java players can then join with just that address and no port. Claim a free server address has the naming rules. Your own domain name is not available, so the free address is the one to put in listings.

Write the server list message

The second line of your entry in the multiplayer list is the message of the day, or MOTD. The default is "A Minecraft Server", and it accepts the game's formatting codes.

1. Open the Config Editor tab.
2. In the Server list message box, type a line that says what your server is, such as the game mode and what is special about it.
3. Select Design your MOTD to add colors with the built-in designer, or use the public Minecraft MOTD generator.
4. Select Save changes and restart the server.

Add an icon

The server list shows an icon of 64 by 64 pixels beside your name, and without one it shows a gray default image. To set one, make a 64 by 64 PNG named server-icon.png, upload it to the top folder of your server in File Manager (the folder that holds server.properties) and restart the server, because the server reads the icon as it starts.

Follow Mojang's rules when you promote

Mojang's Usage Guidelines apply to everything you publish about your server:

• Do not suggest the server is official or approved by Mojang or Microsoft.
• Do not use "Minecraft" as the main name. It may appear in a secondary description, as in Mojang's own example, "Kotoba Miners: A Minecraft server for Redstone builds".
• Say who is responsible for the server and how to contact them. A chat or forum link does not count as a contact method.

If you earn money from the server, Mojang adds more conditions, such as requiring influencers who promote it to disclose their relationship with you. What Mojang lets you charge for on a server lists them.

List the server

According to the Minecraft Wiki, independent listing websites became the main way players find public Java servers. Read a site's rules before you submit to it. Mojang announced the Official Minecraft Server List, made with GamerSafer, as one with no ads and no paid listings. Its announcement says a server must show it follows the Usage Guidelines and give official contact details, its purpose, its audience and how it manages its community, and that the list also does periodic check-ins with owners. Read the list's own site for the current rules.

Be ready for new players

• Check the limits. Raise Player slots in the Config Editor only as far as your RAM allows. How much RAM does my Minecraft server need? gives a guide.
• Welcome Bedrock players. The Crossplay tab lets them join your Java server and shows the Bedrock host and port to put in your listing.
• Have moderators. Invite trusted helpers from the Team tab with the Moderator preset, so someone can act when you are away.