diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/m724/tweaks/TweaksPlugin.java b/src/main/java/eu/m724/tweaks/TweaksPlugin.java
index 6143750..7e1e450 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/m724/tweaks/TweaksPlugin.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/m724/tweaks/TweaksPlugin.java
@@ -96,4 +96,8 @@ public class TweaksPlugin extends JavaPlugin {
 
         getLogger().info("Took %.3f milliseconds".formatted((System.nanoTime() - start) / 1000000.0));
     }
+
+    public boolean hasResource(String resource) {
+        return this.getClassLoader().getResource(resource) != null;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/m724/tweaks/motd/MotdManager.java b/src/main/java/eu/m724/tweaks/motd/MotdManager.java
index 8494c2f..4ef367b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/m724/tweaks/motd/MotdManager.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/m724/tweaks/motd/MotdManager.java
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import com.comphenix.protocol.events.*;
 import com.comphenix.protocol.reflect.StructureModifier;
 import com.google.gson.JsonElement;
 import eu.m724.tweaks.TweaksConfig;
+import eu.m724.tweaks.TweaksPlugin;
 import net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.TextComponent;
 import net.md_5.bungee.chat.ComponentSerializer;
 import net.minecraft.SharedConstants;
@@ -28,11 +29,11 @@ import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.concurrent.ThreadLocalRandom;
 
 public class MotdManager {
-    private final Plugin plugin;
+    private final TweaksPlugin plugin;
 
     private Component[] motds;
 
-    public MotdManager(Plugin plugin) {
+    public MotdManager(TweaksPlugin plugin) {
         this.plugin = plugin;
     }
 
@@ -40,14 +41,18 @@ public class MotdManager {
         // TODO adding more MOTD features would require checking whether to enable set
 
         String motdSetName = TweaksConfig.getConfig().motdSet();
-        File motdSetsFile = new File(plugin.getDataFolder() + "/motd sets/" + motdSetName + ".txt");
+        String motdSetPath = "motd sets/" + motdSetName + ".txt";
+        File motdSetsFile = new File(plugin.getDataFolder(), motdSetPath);
 
+        // create "motd sets" directory
         motdSetsFile.getParentFile().mkdirs();
+
         // if this is a builtin set
-        plugin.saveResource("motd sets/" + motdSetName + ".txt", false);
+        if (!motdSetsFile.exists() && plugin.hasResource(motdSetPath))
+            plugin.saveResource(motdSetPath, false);
 
         if (!motdSetsFile.exists()) {
-            throw new RuntimeException("MOTD set \"%s\" doesn't exist (%s)".formatted(motdSetName, motdSetsFile.getPath()));
+            throw new RuntimeException("MOTD set \"%s\" doesn't exist".formatted(motdSetName));
         }
 
         String fileContent = Files.readString(motdSetsFile.toPath());