The /title and /tellraw Commands in Minecraft: On-Screen and Chat Messages for the Whole Server

Who can use them

/title and /tellraw are operator commands (level 2). In a single-player world you need cheats turned on; on a server, being op: in the console type op YourName. A normal player can't use them.

Both start with who the message is for: @a is everyone online, a name (Ana) just one player, and a selector narrows it further: @a[team=red] a team, @a[distance=..50] the players near you. The target selector generator writes them for you if you don't remember.

A message in the middle of the screen

/title @a title "The event is starting!" puts the text big in the middle of everyone's screen for a few seconds. Inside quotes, spaces, accents and special characters work.

The subtitle is the smaller line underneath. It's sent separately and goes before the title, because it shows up together with the next title you send:

1. Subtitle first

   /title @a subtitle "At spawn, in 5 minutes". On its own, nothing shows yet.

2. Then the title

   /title @a title "Boat race". Now both appear at once.

3. Above the hotbar

   /title @a actionbar "3 minutes left" puts a small line above the item bar, without covering the screen. It's the right one for repeated announcements.

Colors and bold

Instead of quoted text you can use a styled component: /title @a title {"text":"Restart!","color":"red","bold":true}. Colors go by name (red, gold, green, aqua, yellow…) or as a code: "color":"#FF8800". There's also italic, underlined and strikethrough.

To mix styles in the same message you use a list: /title @a title [{"text":"Winner: ","color":"white"},{"text":"Ana","color":"gold","bold":true}].

Since 1.21.5 the game reads this as SNBT and lets you drop the quotes around the keys ({text:"Hello",color:"gold"}), but the quoted form still works and is the only one older versions understand: if you copy, copy it that way. To avoid writing it by hand, the /tellraw and /title generator builds the command with a live preview, and the gradient text one paints each letter a different color.

How long it lasts: title times

By default the title takes half a second to fade in, stays for three and a half seconds and takes one to fade out. You change it with /title @a times 10 70 20: the three numbers are fade in, stay and fade out, in ticks (20 ticks are one second).

You can also write it in seconds with an s after it: /title @a times 1s 5s 1s. It applies to those players' next titles, not to the one already on screen.

1. Remove the title now

   /title @a clear wipes the one being shown.

2. Back to the default times

   /title @a reset puts the times back to how they came and clears the pending subtitle.

Chat messages: /tellraw

/tellraw sends a message to chat as is, with nobody's name in front: /tellraw @a {"text":"Welcome to the server","color":"aqua"}. It takes the same colors and the same list for mixing styles as /title.

And it can also be clicked. With click_event the text opens a link: /tellraw @a {"text":"[Join our Discord]","color":"blue","underlined":true,"click_event":{"action":"open_url","url":"https://discord.gg/yourcode"}}. The game asks each player before opening it.

With hover_event some text appears when you hover over it: "hover_event":{"action":"show_text","value":"Click to join"}. These two names are the ones from 1.21.5 onwards; before that they were clickEvent and hoverEvent, with a different shape, which is why so many commands copied from old pages fail.

The difference with /say: say puts who's saying it in front (“[Server]” if it's the console) and has no colors or clicks. For a quick announcement it's fine; for something that has to look good, tellraw.

From the server console

In the console you type them without the slash and they work the same: title @a title "Restart in 5 minutes". That way you can make announcements without being in the game.

In the game's chat a command can't be longer than 256 characters, and a tellraw with a link and colors gets there quickly. In the console or in a command block (in Spanish) much longer commands fit.

1. Announce a restart

   title @a times 10 100 20, then title @a subtitle "Save whatever you're in the middle of" and title @a title {"text":"Restart in 5 minutes","color":"red"}. Once the time is up, you restart the server.

2. An announcement for one team only

   title @a[team=blue] actionbar "Your base is under attack". Teams are created with /team: the teams guide (in Spanish).

3. For an event winner

   title Ana title {"text":"You win!","color":"gold","bold":true} and for everyone else title @a[name=!Ana] subtitle "Ana wins" followed by its title.

If it doesn't show or errors out

If the command errors when it reaches the text, it's almost always one quote or brace too many or too few, or a missing comma between two parts. Keys and text go in straight quotes ("), not the curly ones some editors insert when you copy.

If there's no error but the subtitle doesn't show, you sent the subtitle after the title: it goes before. And if the title gets cut off, it's too long for the screen: a title doesn't wrap, so leave the long sentence for the subtitle or the chat.

These commands are the Java ones. In Bedrock they're written differently (/titleraw and /tellraw with rawtext), so whatever you copy from a Bedrock video won't work on a Paper server.

With EssentialsX

If you have EssentialsX, /broadcast (or /bc) sends an announcement to the whole server in the plugin's format, and /broadcastworld to just one world. They're handy for text announcements; for something in the middle of the screen or with a click, /title and /tellraw. More in the EssentialsX guide.

On NapNodes

Minecraft servers run Paper on the latest version, so everything in this guide works, click_event and hover_event included. From the panel's “Console” you send any /title or /tellraw without joining the game, and right there you make yourself op (op YourName) to use them in chat.

To announce a restart: the /title in “Console” and, once the time is up, “Restart” in the panel.

If you don't have a server for your events yet, the free server comes with the same commands as a paid one.

Frequently asked questions