MineDown & MiniMessage Formatting

Every SlateChat config file — channel formats, /chatcolor messages, all of it — accepts two formatting syntaxes at the same time: MineDown ([Text](args)) and MiniMessage (<tag>text</tag>). They're independent — use whichever fits, or mix both in the same string. Players can also type either directly in chat with chat.colored. Legacy &/§ codes and raw hex (#RRGGBB) work everywhere too — see the colors reference. If ItemsAdder is installed, its :name: font images (emoji, rank badges, custom icons) are resolved too — see ItemsAdder Compatibility below.

MiniMessage

MiniMessage is Adventure's tag-based format, and what channel format: strings in channels.yml are written in by default.

Colors

<red>Red text</red>
<gold>Gold text</gold>
<#FF5733>Custom hex color</#FF5733>

Named colors match the standard 16 Minecraft colors — see the colors reference for the full list.

Formatting

<bold>Bold</bold>
<italic>Italic</italic>
<underlined>Underlined</underlined>
<strikethrough>Strikethrough</strikethrough>
<obfuscated>Obfuscated</obfuscated>
<reset>Reset formatting</reset>

Closing tags are optional if the rest of the string should stay formatted, but recommended for clarity.

Gradients & rainbow

<gradient:#FF0000:#0000FF>Gradient text</gradient>
<rainbow>Rainbow text</rainbow>

Click & hover events

<click:run_command:/spawn>Click to teleport</click>
<click:open_url:https://example.com>Visit our site</click>
<hover:show_text:'Hover message'>Hover over me</hover>

Events combine, hover wrapping click:

<hover:show_text:'Go to spawn'><click:run_command:/spawn><green>Click here</green></click></hover>

Placeholders

PlaceholderAPI resolves before MiniMessage parsing, so placeholders sit safely inside or around tags:

<yellow>%luckperms_prefix% <player></yellow>

MineDown

Basic format

[Display Text](arguments)

• Display Text — what shows up in chat
• arguments — colors, formatting, links, hover text, space separated

Automatic hover

Using a link or command always shows a hover — by default it's just the link/command itself, so players know what they're about to click before they click it.

Examples

Clickable link

[Visit our website](https://example.com)

Shows "Visit our website", opens the site on click, hovers the URL automatically.

Clickable command

[Click here](/help)

Shows "Click here", runs /help on click, hovers /help automatically.

Command with custom hover (needs chat.hover.bypass)

[View rules](/rules Click to see server rules)

With the permission, hovering shows "Click to see server rules." Without it, the automatic /rules hover is shown instead — the custom text is dropped silently, not an error.

Hover only, no link

[Information](Hover for more details)

Any argument that isn't a link or command just becomes hover text. No permission needed if there's no link attached.

Colors

[Colored text](red)
[Hex color text](#FF5733)

Formatting

[Bold text](bold)
[Italic text](italic)
[Underlined text](underline)
[Strikethrough text](strikethrough)
[Obfuscated text](obfuscated)

Combinations

Arguments stack, space separated:

[Admin](red bold)
[Click here](green underline /warp spawn Teleport to spawn)
[Website](aqua https://example.com Visit our website!)

Gradients

[Colored text](#FF0000-#0000FF)

Rainbow

[Rainbow](rainbow)
[Slow rainbow](rainbow:50)

Escaping

Prefix the [ with a backslash to show the raw syntax instead of triggering it — handy when explaining the format to someone instead of using it:

\[Click here](/kill)

This prints [Click here](/kill) as literal, non-clickable text.

Processing order

1. The first argument starting with / or http(s):// becomes the link or command
2. Anything after that becomes hover text
3. Colors and formatting apply to the display text
4. With no link at all, every unrecognized argument becomes hover text

Hover text is resolved outside of the click action, which is resolved outside of formatting, which is outside of color — in that order.

Common mistake

[/kill](Click here)

This is backwards — it displays the literal text "/kill" and "Click here" never becomes clickable. The link/command always goes in the parentheses:

[Click here](/kill)

In chat

Players can type MineDown directly:

Hello [everyone](yellow bold)! [Click here](/warp spawn Go to spawn)

"Hello" renders as normal text, "everyone" comes out yellow and bold, and "Click here" becomes clickable — running /warp spawn with a "Go to spawn" hover.

ItemsAdder Compatibility

If ItemsAdder is installed and enabled, SlateChat automatically resolves its :name: font-image shorthand — emoji, rank/prefix badges, custom icons, anything registered as a font image — no extra setup beyond having ItemsAdder installed (toggle: itemsadder in config.yml, on by default).

:smile:

Works when a player types it in chat, when it's baked directly into a channel's format: string (e.g. as a prefix icon), and even through a resolved placeholder — like a LuckPerms rank prefix (%luckperms_prefix%) set to a font image in LuckPerms' own config. Each font image's own permission (if set in ItemsAdder's config) is respected — without it, a player just sees the literal :name: text.

Permissions