How to Set a Custom Minecraft Server Icon

The server icon is the small image that appears next to your server name in every player's server list. It is tiny, but it matters: it is the first visual impression of your server. Without an icon, your server looks unfinished next to servers that have one.

Setting it up takes less than five minutes. The requirements are strict but simple.

Specifications

• Format: PNG (not JPEG, not GIF, not WebP, not SVG).
• Dimensions: exactly 64x64 pixels. No other size works. Not 128x128, not 32x32, not any rectangular shape.
• File name: server-icon.png (lowercase, with the hyphen, exactly as written).
• Location: the root directory of your server, the same folder where server.properties lives.

Minecraft checks all four of these conditions. If any one of them is wrong, the icon silently does not appear. There is no error message.

How to set it up

1. Create or resize your image to 64x64 pixels. Use a free tool like Canva, Pixlr, GIMP, or any image editor. At 64 pixels, fine detail is not visible. A logo, a single letter, a bold symbol, or a simplified version of your server's branding works best.
2. Save it as a PNG. If your image editor defaults to JPEG, change the export format. A JPEG file renamed to .png does not count; the internal format must be PNG.
3. Name the file server-icon.png. No capital letters, no underscore, no extra extension. Not Server-Icon.png, not server_icon.png, not icon.png.
4. Upload it to the root directory of your server via the Files tab in the game panel or via SFTP. It must sit right next to server.properties, not in a subfolder.
5. Restart the server. The icon is loaded at startup.

Common mistakes

• Wrong size. 128x128 is the most common mistake. People assume higher resolution means better quality, but Minecraft rejects anything that is not exactly 64x64.
• Wrong format. A JPEG that has been renamed to .png is still a JPEG internally. Open the file in an image editor and re-export as actual PNG.
• Wrong file name. Server-Icon.png, server_icon.png, servericon.png, icon.png: none of these work. The name must be exactly server-icon.png.
• Wrong directory. The file is in a subfolder instead of the root. It must be in the same directory as server.properties.
• Transparency issues. PNG supports transparency, and Minecraft renders it correctly. But if you accidentally save with a white background when you intended transparency, the icon will have a white box around your design in the server list.

Design tips

• Use high contrast. At 64 pixels, soft colors blend together into a muddy blob.
• Avoid text unless it is one or two large letters. Small text is unreadable at this size.
• Match the colors of your server or community brand. Recognition is more important than artistry.
• Test the icon by adding your own server to the Minecraft client and seeing how it looks in the list alongside other servers.
• Look at icons of popular servers for inspiration. Simple, bold designs consistently stand out more than complex ones.

Free tools for creating icons

You do not need Photoshop for a 64x64 image. These free options work well:

• Canva: use a custom 64x64 canvas. Export as PNG.
• Pixlr: browser-based editor. Create a 64x64 document or resize an existing image.
• GIMP: open-source desktop editor. Use Image > Scale Image to resize, then export as PNG.
• Piskel: a pixel art editor in the browser. Perfect for this size because 64x64 is essentially pixel art.

If you already have a logo at higher resolution, resize it down to 64x64 and check whether it is still recognizable. Logos with thin lines or small text often become unreadable at this scale. Simplify the design before resizing.

Updating the icon

Replace the file with a new one (same name, same location) and restart the server. The Minecraft client caches the icon, so it may take a while before players see the update. They can force a refresh by removing the server from their list and adding it again.

Does the icon update automatically for players?

The Minecraft client caches the server icon. After you change it, some players will see the old icon until their cache refreshes. This usually happens within a few server list refreshes. Removing and re-adding the server in the client forces an immediate update.

Can I use an animated icon?

No. Minecraft only supports static PNG files as server icons. Animated PNGs (APNG) and GIFs are not supported.

Does the icon show for Bedrock players via Geyser?

Bedrock players do not see the Java server icon. The Bedrock server list displays a default icon. This is a limitation of Bedrock Edition, not something you can fix on the server side. Java players always see the icon if it is correctly set up.

My icon shows up blurry. What can I do?

At 64x64 pixels, every pixel counts. If you scaled down a large, detailed image, the result will look muddy. Start with a simple design made at 64x64 from scratch, or redraw a simplified version of your logo. Avoid gradients, thin lines, and small text. Bold shapes and high contrast produce the clearest icons at this scale.

Setting up a server icon works on all Minecraft plans at HostValues.