Msg, tell and w: private messages

Updated: 30 October 2026

Message one player

/msg Steve Come to the base
/tell Steve Come to the base
/w Steve Come to the base

All three do the same thing. Only you and the receiver see the message, in grey italics. Press Tab to complete player names.

Message several players

/msg @a[distance=..20] Only players within 20 blocks see this
/msg @a[team=red] Only the red team sees this

Target selectors work as the receiver. See target selectors for filters.

Message your team (/teammsg)

/teammsg Attack from the east
/tm Attack from the east

On Java, this goes to everyone on your team; /tm is the short form. You must be on a team first (see the team command).

Describe an action (/me)

/me is going to sleep

Everyone sees * Steve is going to sleep in chat.

No operator rights needed

/msg, /tell, /w, /teammsg and /me work for every player, and in single player they work with cheats off. Some servers disable them with plugins.

Which command to use

From a command block, /msg shows the sender as @. For minigame announcements, /tellraw looks cleaner.

Bedrock Edition

/msg, /tell, /w and /me work the same on Bedrock. Bedrock has no /teammsg.

Common problems

• "No player was found": check the spelling, or the player is offline. You cannot message offline players.
• Names with spaces or symbols: use Tab completion.
• /teammsg fails: you are not on a team, or you are on Bedrock.
• The message never shows: the receiver may have chat hidden or set to commands only.

Common questions

• Can others read my /msg? Other players cannot. Depending on plugins and log settings, server admins may be able to.
• Is there a reply command? Vanilla Java has no /r. Send another /msg with their name.
• Can I message someone offline? Not in vanilla. Leave a sign or a book instead.

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