Support multi-line MOTDs natively via a string list in the config

api/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/api/proxy/config/ProxyConfig.java

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Optional;
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.Component;
 
 /**
  * Exposes certain proxy configuration information that plugins may use.
@@ -47,11 +48,11 @@ public interface ProxyConfig {
   boolean shouldQueryShowPlugins();
 
   /**
-   * Get the MOTD component shown in the tab list.
+   * Get the MOTD component shown in the tab list and the server list ping response.
    *
    * @return the motd component
    */
-  net.kyori.adventure.text.Component getMotd();
+  Component getMotd();
 
   /**
    * Get the maximum players shown in the tab list.

proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/config/VelocityConfiguration.java

@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import com.velocitypowered.proxy.config.migration.KeyAuthenticationMigration;
 import com.velocitypowered.proxy.config.migration.MiniMessageTranslationsMigration;
 import com.velocitypowered.proxy.config.migration.MotdMigration;
+import com.velocitypowered.proxy.config.migration.MotdMultilineMigration;
 import com.velocitypowered.proxy.config.migration.PacketLimiterMigration;
 import com.velocitypowered.proxy.config.migration.TransferIntegrationMigration;
 import com.velocitypowered.proxy.util.AddressUtil;
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.Random;
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.Component;
 import net.kyori.adventure.text.minimessage.MiniMessage;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
@@ -64,7 +66,7 @@ public class VelocityConfiguration implements ProxyConfig {
   @Expose
   private String bind = "0.0.0.0:25565";
   @Expose
-  private String motd = "<aqua>A Velocity Server";
+  private List<String> motd = ImmutableList.of("<aqua>A Velocity Server");
   @Expose
   private int showMaxPlayers = 500;
   @Expose
@@ -91,7 +93,7 @@ public class VelocityConfiguration implements ProxyConfig {
   private final Metrics metrics;
   @Expose
   private boolean enablePlayerAddressLogging = true;
-  private net.kyori.adventure.text.@MonotonicNonNull Component motdAsComponent;
+  private @MonotonicNonNull Component motdAsComponent;
   private @Nullable Favicon favicon;
   @Expose
   private boolean forceKeyAuthentication = true; // Added in 1.19
@@ -107,7 +109,7 @@ private VelocityConfiguration(Servers servers, ForcedHosts forcedHosts, Advanced
     this.metrics = metrics;
   }
 
-  private VelocityConfiguration(String bind, String motd, int showMaxPlayers, boolean onlineMode,
+  private VelocityConfiguration(String bind, List<String> motd, int showMaxPlayers, boolean onlineMode,
       boolean preventClientProxyConnections, boolean announceForge,
       PlayerInfoForwarding playerInfoForwardingMode, byte[] forwardingSecret,
       boolean onlineModeKickExistingPlayers, PingPassthroughMode pingPassthrough,
@@ -282,9 +284,12 @@ public boolean shouldQueryShowPlugins() {
   }
 
   @Override
-  public net.kyori.adventure.text.Component getMotd() {
+  public Component getMotd() {
     if (motdAsComponent == null) {
-      motdAsComponent = MiniMessage.miniMessage().deserialize(motd);
+      motdAsComponent = motd.stream()
+          .map(MiniMessage.miniMessage()::deserialize)
+          .reduce((a, b) -> a.appendNewline().append(b))
+          .orElseGet(Component::empty);
     }
     return motdAsComponent;
   }
@@ -513,7 +518,8 @@ public static VelocityConfiguration read(Path path) throws IOException {
           new MotdMigration(),
           new MiniMessageTranslationsMigration(),
           new TransferIntegrationMigration(),
-          new PacketLimiterMigration()
+          new PacketLimiterMigration(),
+          new MotdMultilineMigration()
       };
 
       for (final ConfigurationMigration migration : migrations) {
@@ -545,7 +551,7 @@ public static VelocityConfiguration read(Path path) throws IOException {
         }
       }
       final byte[] forwardingSecret = forwardingSecretString.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
-      final String motd = config.getOrElse("motd", "<#09add3>A Velocity Server");
+      final List<String> motd = config.getOrElse("motd", ImmutableList.of("<#09add3>A Velocity Server"));
 
       // Read the rest of the config
       final CommentedConfig serversConfig = config.get("servers");

proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/config/migration/ConfigurationMigration.java

@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ public sealed interface ConfigurationMigration
                 MotdMigration,
                 MiniMessageTranslationsMigration,
                 TransferIntegrationMigration,
-                PacketLimiterMigration {
+                PacketLimiterMigration,
+                MotdMultilineMigration {
   boolean shouldMigrate(CommentedFileConfig config);
 
   void migrate(CommentedFileConfig config, Logger logger) throws IOException;

proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/config/migration/MotdMultilineMigration.java

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2026 Velocity Contributors
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package com.velocitypowered.proxy.config.migration;
+
+import com.electronwill.nightconfig.core.file.CommentedFileConfig;
+import java.util.List;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
+
+/**
+ * Migrates a single string motd to a multiline (string list) motd.
+ */
+public final class MotdMultilineMigration implements ConfigurationMigration {
+
+  @Override
+  public boolean shouldMigrate(CommentedFileConfig config) {
+    return configVersion(config) < 2.9;
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public void migrate(CommentedFileConfig config, Logger logger) {
+    String motd = config.get("motd");
+    config.set("motd", List.of(motd));
+
+    config.set("config-version", "2.9");
+  }
+}

proxy/src/main/resources/default-velocity.toml

@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 # Config version. Do not change this
-config-version = "2.8"
+config-version = "2.9"
 
 # What port should the proxy be bound to? By default, we'll bind to all addresses on port 25565.
 bind = "0.0.0.0:25565"
 
 # What should be the MOTD? This gets displayed when the player adds your server to
 # their server list. Only MiniMessage format is accepted.
-motd = "<#09add3>A Velocity Server"
+motd = [
+    "<#09add3>A Velocity Server"
+]
 
 # What should we display for the maximum number of players? (Velocity does not support a cap
 # on the number of players online.)