How to Use MiniMessage Viewer to Edit and Preview Text

Updated

MiniMessage Viewer (also called Adventure WebUI) is a browser-based editor for MiniMessage, the rich-text format used by the Adventure library in Minecraft plugins and mods. To use it, type your text into the input box in the middle of the screen, pick a preview format from the buttons at the top (chat, lore, hologram, or server list), and read the rendered result in the output area below the input. No installation is described on the site — it runs as a web page.

What you need before starting

  • A browser and a working connection to the page. The site shows a "Your connection with the server has been lost, please reload the page" message when the connection drops, so a stable connection matters.
  • The text you want to format, plus any MiniMessage tags you plan to use. The tool generates and edits MiniMessage strings; it does not replace knowing the format itself.
  • A target context in mind. The same string can look different depending on whether it is shown in chat, lore, a hologram, or a server list entry, which is why the format selector exists.

Step-by-step: create and preview text

  1. Enter your text. Click into the input box in the middle of the screen and type or paste your content. This is the MiniMessage source that the tool will render.
  2. Choose a preview format. Use the buttons at the top to switch between Chat (Closed), Chat (Open), Lore, Hologram, and Server List. The selected format changes how the output is drawn, so check your text in the context where it will actually appear.
  3. Apply formatting. Use the buttons above the input to make text bold, italic, or underlined. You can also add clickable URLs, clickable commands, and hover text. Each of these inserts the corresponding MiniMessage markup into your string.
  4. Check the output. The rendered preview appears below the input. If something looks wrong, edit the input or the markup and the output updates.
  5. Apply color if needed. The interface includes an "Apply color" control alongside the input, useful when you want to set coloring without hand-writing the tag.

A practical example: if you are writing a server list entry, switch to the Server List format first, then add your description text and formatting. What reads well in chat may wrap or truncate differently in the server list slot, and previewing in the right format catches that before you paste the string into your plugin config.

Sharing, exporting, and in-game preview

Once the text looks right, the top of the screen offers several ways to move it out of the tool:

Action What it does Watch out for
Share short link Creates a shortened link to your MiniMessage text Short links expire after 6 months
Share full link Creates a full link to your text Use this if you need the link to last longer than 6 months
Export to JSON Generates a JSON representation you can copy into your plugin or mod It is an export only — you still paste it into your own project
Try in-game Copies a Minecraft server IP to your clipboard Add that IP to your server list in Minecraft to see an in-game preview

The in-game option is the most reliable final check, because it renders your text through the actual game client rather than a browser approximation. The site notes that this is not official Minecraft software, so treat the preview server as a testing aid.

Common snags

  • Output stops updating or shows a connection error. Reload the page; the tool depends on a live server connection, and unsaved work in the input may be lost.
  • A shared link no longer works. It was probably a short link past the 6-month expiry. Regenerate and use the full link this time.
  • Text looks fine in one format but wrong in another. Re-check with the format selector — chat, lore, holograms, and server lists each have their own layout constraints.
  • You need the raw string, not a picture. Use Export to JSON or copy the MiniMessage from the input; the preview alone is not something you can paste into a config.

When this tool is the right choice

Use MiniMessage Viewer when you want to iterate on formatting visually before committing a string to a plugin or mod, especially for multi-context text like a server list description that also appears elsewhere. If you already know MiniMessage syntax well and only need a syntax reference, the official MiniMessage documentation linked from the site is the better stop. The source code is available on GitHub if you want to inspect or self-host the interface.