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A guide to ANSI on Discord

A guide to ANSI on Discord

Discord is now slowly rolling out the ability to send colored messages within code blocks. It uses the ANSI color codes, so if you've tried to print colored text in your terminal or console with Python or other languages then it will be easy for you.

Quick Explanation

To be able to send a colored text, you need to use the ansi language for your code block and provide a prefix of this format before writing your text:

\u001b[{format};{color}m

Important

\u001b is the unicode escape for ESCAPE/ESC, meant to be used in the source of your bot (see http://www.unicode-symbol.com/u/001B.html). If you wish to send colored text without using your bot you need to copy the character from the website.

After you've written this, you can now type the text you wish to color. If you want to reset the color back to normal, then you need to use the \u001b[0m prefix again.

Formats

Here is the list of values you can use to replace {format}

  • 0: Normal
  • 1: Bold
  • 4: Underline

Colors

Here is the list of values you can use to replace {color}:

Text Colors

  • 30: Gray
  • 31: Red
  • 32: Green
  • 33: Yellow
  • 34: Blue
  • 35: Pink
  • 36: Cyan
  • 37: White

Background Colors

  • 40: Firefly dark blue
  • 41: Orange
  • 42: Marble blue
  • 43: Greyish turquoise
  • 44: Gray
  • 45: Indigo
  • 46: Light gray
  • 47: White

Example

Let's take an example, I want a bold green colored text with the firefly dark blue background. I simply use \u001b[0;40m (background color) and \u001b[1;32m (text color) as prefix. Note that the order is important, first you give the background color and then the text color.

Alternatively you can also directly combine them into a single prefix like the following: \u001b[1;40;32m and you can also use multiple values. Something like \u001b[1;40;4;32m would underline the text, make it bold, make it green and have a dark blue background.

Result:

Background and text color

Raw message used:

```ansi
\u001b[0;40m\u001b[1;32mThat's some cool formatted text right?\u001b[0m
or
\u001b[1;40;32mThat's some cool formatted text right?\u001b[0m
```

ANSI Colors Showcase

The way the colors and different formats look like on Discord is shown here

ANSI Colors

Disclaimer

Note: The change has been brought to all stable desktop clients. Since syntax highlighting on mobile is far behind, ANSI is not supported on mobile as well. Refer to this gist for other syntax highlighting methods.

ANSI Colors Showcase

This is a small gist to show how I've made the picture showcasing the different ANSI formats above.

Important

\u001b is the unicode escape for ESCAPE/ESC, meant to be used in the source of your bot (see http://www.unicode-symbol.com/u/001B.html). If you wish to send colored text without using your bot you need to copy the character from the website.


Example

\u001b[1;40;32mThat's some cool formatted text, right?

Color Names

\u001b[0;30mGray\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;31mRed\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;32mGreen\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;33mYellow\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;34mBlue\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;35mPink\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;36mCyan\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;37mWhite\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;40mFirefly dark blue background\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;41mOrange background\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;42mMarble blue background\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;43mGreyish turquoise background\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;44mGray background\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;45mIndigo background\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;46mLight gray background\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;47mWhite background\u001b[0;0m

Colors

\u001b[0;30mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;31mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;32mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;33mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;34mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;35mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;36mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;37mExample\u001b[0;0m

Backgrounds

\u001b[0;40mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;41mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;42mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;43mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;44mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;45mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;46mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;47mExample\u001b[0;0m

Backgrounds & Colors

\u001b[0;40;30mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;40;31mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;40;32mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;40;33mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;40;34mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;40;35mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;40;36mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;40;37mExample\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;41;30mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;41;31mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;41;32mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;41;33mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;41;34mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;41;35mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;41;36mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;41;37mExample\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;42;30mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;42;31mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;42;32mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;42;33mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;42;34mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;42;35mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;42;36mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;42;37mExample\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;43;30mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;43;31mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;43;32mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;43;33mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;43;34mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;43;35mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;43;36mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;43;37mExample\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;44;30mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;44;31mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;44;32mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;44;33mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;44;34mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;44;35mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;44;36mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;44;37mExample\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;45;30mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;45;31mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;45;32mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;45;33mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;45;34mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;45;35mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;45;36mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;45;37mExample\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;46;30mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;46;31mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;46;32mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;46;33mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;46;34mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;46;35mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;46;36mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;46;37mExample\u001b[0;0m
\u001b[0;47;30mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;47;31mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;47;32mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;47;33mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;47;34mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;47;35mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;47;36mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[0;47;37mExample\u001b[0;0m

Bold

\u001b[1;30mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[1;31mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[1;32mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[1;33mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[1;34mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[1;35mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[1;36mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[1;37mExample\u001b[0;0m

Underlined

\u001b[4;30mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[4;31mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[4;32mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[4;33mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[4;34mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[4;35mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[4;36mExample\u001b[0;0m \u001b[4;37mExample\u001b[0;0m
@revelcw
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revelcw commented Mar 16, 2023

Hi! The color message looks impressive. But his field is too big. 502 Is it possible to use colored text but not enlarge the message field? 501

It looks like the bottom code block is an inline code block (`like this`), which has no formatting. So no. The only way to do the colored text is with syntax highlighting, which is only possible via the

```ansi
```

multi line code blocks

@aiko-chan-ai
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https://www.npmjs.com/package/discord-bettermarkdown
i have created a simple library for nodejs to use it :3

@revelcw
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revelcw commented Mar 27, 2023

https://www.npmjs.com/package/discord-bettermarkdown i have created a simple library for nodejs to use it :3

Not the string proto 😭😭😭

@PauliusV0
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Completely doesn't work
image
image

@kkrypt0nn
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kkrypt0nn commented May 6, 2023

Completely doesn't work

Can confirm it completely works - that's what happens when you use BetterDiscord, or similar, with plugins that alter the default behaviour of code blocks or syntax highlighting 🙃
image
image

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ghost commented Jul 13, 2023

Thanks to Clyde for pointing that out, you can clear any effects (bold/underline, fg color, bg color) by using 0.

@mgundle302
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The background of "red" is more of an orange color. How do we get an actual "Red" color or a "Bright Green" color in the background?

@n01-op
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n01-op commented Aug 15, 2023

what are the colours in the #ffffff format?
want to create roles on discord with the same colours

@luigge
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luigge commented Nov 3, 2023

apparently you can also use the escape code number 5 which is supposed to make the text blink and uncer certain circunstances when you hover the mouse over the text it changes the background, I haven't figured out exactly how it works also you can input multiple codes into one for example

�[0;32;40m where 0 is the code to clear the format, then comes the text color then the background color all separated by semicolons

@imtumbleweed
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imtumbleweed commented May 25, 2024

i hope discord devs add support for color in regular chat without having to use code blocks. thanks for this page, it was used as a reference in this article about using color in text on discord which also has a link to the youtube tutorial that has 58K views! clearly, there is so much demand for this feature, discord should just add it out of the box.

@GAMINGCHATS
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GAMINGCHATS commented Jul 21, 2024

I noticed in the 2nd example

\u001b[1;40;32mThat's some cool formatted text right?\u001b[0m

That the order doesn't matter at all.

@prehistoriccraftman
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what you called "yellow" is called ocher or gold, in a normal world. Yellow is yellow, like a mature lemon.

@kkrypt0nn
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what you called "yellow" is called ocher or gold, in a normal world. Yellow is yellow, like a mature lemon.

image

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code#Colors

The other colors have custom names because they're not really following ANSI.

@NathanSnail
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In case someone wants the hex codes
foreground 30: #4e5058
foreground 31: #dc322f
foreground 32: #859900
foreground 33: #b58900
foreground 34: #268bd2
foreground 35: #d33682
foreground 36: #2aa198
foreground 37: #ffffff

background 40: #002b36
background 41: #cb4b16
background 42: #586e75
background 43: #657b83
background 44: #839496
background 45: #6c71c4
background 46: #93a1a1
background 47: #fdf6e3

@YannickTholomier
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Date & time:
Any idea how i can post <t:1733099740:D> into a ansi without losting the format?

@kkrypt0nn
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Date & time: Any idea how i can post <t:1733099740:D> into a ansi without losting the format?

Not possible, you can't put other markdown/message formatting within code blocks.

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