diff --git a/Essentials/src/com/earth2me/essentials/utils/FormatUtil.java b/Essentials/src/com/earth2me/essentials/utils/FormatUtil.java
index 9d3ef7cb0..82f106ac9 100644
--- a/Essentials/src/com/earth2me/essentials/utils/FormatUtil.java
+++ b/Essentials/src/com/earth2me/essentials/utils/FormatUtil.java
@@ -6,15 +6,19 @@ import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 public class FormatUtil
 {
-	static final transient Pattern REPLACE_COLOR_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("&([0-9a-fA-F])");
-	static final transient Pattern VANILLA_MAGIC_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("\u00a7+[Kk]");
-	static final transient Pattern VANILLA_FORMAT_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("\u00a7+[L-ORl-or]");
-	static final transient Pattern REPLACE_FORMAT_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("&([l-orL-OR])");
-	static final transient Pattern REPLACE_MAGIC_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("&([Kk])");
-	static final transient Pattern REPLACE_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("&([0-9a-fk-orA-FK-OR])");
-	static final transient Pattern LOGCOLOR_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("\\x1B\\[([0-9]{1,2}(;[0-9]{1,2})?)?[m|K]");
+	//Vanilla patterns used to strip existing formats
 	static final transient Pattern VANILLA_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("\u00a7+[0-9A-FK-ORa-fk-or]?");
 	static final transient Pattern VANILLA_COLOR_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("\u00a7+[0-9A-Fa-f]");
+	static final transient Pattern VANILLA_MAGIC_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("\u00a7+[Kk]");
+	static final transient Pattern VANILLA_FORMAT_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("\u00a7+[L-ORl-or]");
+	//Essentials '&' convention colour codes
+	static final transient Pattern REPLACE_ALL_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("(?<!&)&([0-9a-fk-orA-FK-OR])");
+	static final transient Pattern REPLACE_COLOR_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("(?<!&)&([0-9a-fA-F])");
+	static final transient Pattern REPLACE_MAGIC_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("(?<!&)&([Kk])");
+	static final transient Pattern REPLACE_FORMAT_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("(?<!&)&([l-orL-OR])");
+	static final transient Pattern REPLACE_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("&&(?=[0-9a-fk-orA-FK-OR])");
+	//Used to prepare xmpp output
+	static final transient Pattern LOGCOLOR_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("\\x1B\\[([0-9]{1,2}(;[0-9]{1,2})?)?[m|K]");
 	static final transient Pattern URL_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("((?:(?:https?)://)?[\\w-_\\.]{2,})\\.([a-z]{2,3}(?:/\\S+)?)");
 	public static final Pattern IPPATTERN = Pattern.compile("^([01]?\\d\\d?|2[0-4]\\d|25[0-5])\\.([01]?\\d\\d?|2[0-4]\\d|25[0-5])\\." + "([01]?\\d\\d?|2[0-4]\\d|25[0-5])\\.([01]?\\d\\d?|2[0-4]\\d|25[0-5])$");
 
@@ -27,7 +31,7 @@ public class FormatUtil
 		}
 		return stripColor(input, VANILLA_PATTERN);
 	}
-	
+
 	//This method is used to simply strip the & convention colour codes
 	public static String stripEssentialsFormat(final String input)
 	{
@@ -35,7 +39,7 @@ public class FormatUtil
 		{
 			return null;
 		}
-		return stripColor(input, REPLACE_PATTERN);
+		return stripColor(input, REPLACE_ALL_PATTERN);
 	}
 
 	//This is the general permission sensitive message format function, checks for urls.
@@ -60,12 +64,12 @@ public class FormatUtil
 		{
 			return null;
 		}
-		return REPLACE_PATTERN.matcher(input).replaceAll("\u00a7$1");
+		return replaceColor(input, REPLACE_ALL_PATTERN);
 	}
-
+	
 	static String replaceColor(final String input, final Pattern pattern)
 	{
-		return pattern.matcher(input).replaceAll("\u00a7$1");
+		return REPLACE_PATTERN.matcher(pattern.matcher(input).replaceAll("\u00a7$1")).replaceAll("&");
 	}
 
 	//This is the general permission sensitive message format function, does not touch urls.
@@ -78,45 +82,45 @@ public class FormatUtil
 		String message;
 		if (user.isAuthorized(permBase + ".color"))
 		{
-			message = FormatUtil.replaceColor(input, REPLACE_COLOR_PATTERN);
+			message = replaceColor(input, REPLACE_COLOR_PATTERN);
 		}
 		else
 		{
-			message = FormatUtil.stripColor(input, VANILLA_COLOR_PATTERN);
+			message = stripColor(input, VANILLA_COLOR_PATTERN);
 		}
 		if (user.isAuthorized(permBase + ".magic"))
 		{
-			message = FormatUtil.replaceColor(message, REPLACE_MAGIC_PATTERN);
+			message = replaceColor(message, REPLACE_MAGIC_PATTERN);
 		}
 		else
 		{
-			message = FormatUtil.stripColor(message, VANILLA_MAGIC_PATTERN);
+			message = stripColor(message, VANILLA_MAGIC_PATTERN);
 		}
 		if (user.isAuthorized(permBase + ".format"))
 		{
-			message = FormatUtil.replaceColor(message, REPLACE_FORMAT_PATTERN);
+			message = replaceColor(message, REPLACE_FORMAT_PATTERN);
 		}
 		else
 		{
-			message = FormatUtil.stripColor(message, VANILLA_FORMAT_PATTERN);
+			message = stripColor(message, VANILLA_FORMAT_PATTERN);
 		}
 		return message;
 	}
-
+	
 	public static String stripLogColorFormat(final String input)
 	{
 		if (input == null)
 		{
 			return null;
 		}
-		return LOGCOLOR_PATTERN.matcher(input).replaceAll("");
+		return stripColor(input, LOGCOLOR_PATTERN);
 	}
-
+	
 	static String stripColor(final String input, final Pattern pattern)
 	{
 		return pattern.matcher(input).replaceAll("");
 	}
-
+	
 	public static String lastCode(final String input)
 	{
 		int pos = input.lastIndexOf("\u00a7");
@@ -126,7 +130,7 @@ public class FormatUtil
 		}
 		return input.substring(pos, pos + 2);
 	}
-
+	
 	static String blockURL(final String input)
 	{
 		if (input == null)
@@ -140,7 +144,7 @@ public class FormatUtil
 		}
 		return text;
 	}
-
+	
 	public static boolean validIP(String ipAddress)
 	{
 		return IPPATTERN.matcher(ipAddress).matches();