Why can't I paste § into a Minecraft command?
Olivia Norman
Published Jul 14, 2026
According to , using §1 in an item's name should make the text colored dark blue.
However, when I copy-paste a command like this one into chat:
/give @p diamond_sword{display:{Name:"{\"text\":\"§1Sword\"}"}}it comes out like this:
/give @p diamond_sword{display:{Name:"{\"text\":\"1Sword\"}"}}See the problem? I can't copy § into chat!
Which means the name ends up being "1Sword" rather than "Sword" colored dark blue.
Why can't I copy § into chat? What can I do to fix it?
Note: I've tested this issue on Minecraft versions 1.14.3 and 1.12.2. It worked the same on both. Feel free to leave a comment if you need more details.
23 Answers
You can actually set a color with the color-tag inside of the Name-tag by using a command like this:
/give @p diamond_sword{display:{Name:"{\"text\":\"Sword\",\"color\":\"dark_blue\"}"}} 1.15 Update
Entering JSON text is now easier in 1.15 because NBT string tags can use single quotes '.
Instead of:
/give @s dirt{display:{Name:"[{\"text\":\"Earth\", \"color\":\"green\"}]"}}Try:
/give @s dirt{display:{Name:'[{"text":"Earth","color":"green"}]'}} 0 Hold on the & symbol and choose it from the menu
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