diff --git a/paper-server/patches/sources/net/minecraft/world/scores/PlayerTeam.java.patch b/paper-server/patches/sources/net/minecraft/world/scores/PlayerTeam.java.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e2ba03babf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/paper-server/patches/sources/net/minecraft/world/scores/PlayerTeam.java.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+--- a/net/minecraft/world/scores/PlayerTeam.java
++++ b/net/minecraft/world/scores/PlayerTeam.java
+@@ -222,7 +_,7 @@
+             instance -> instance.group(
+                     Codec.STRING.fieldOf("Name").forGetter(PlayerTeam.Packed::name),
+                     ComponentSerialization.CODEC.optionalFieldOf("DisplayName").forGetter(PlayerTeam.Packed::displayName),
+-                    ChatFormatting.COLOR_CODEC.optionalFieldOf("TeamColor").forGetter(PlayerTeam.Packed::color),
++                    io.papermc.paper.util.PaperCodecs.lenientCodec("TeamColor", ChatFormatting.COLOR_CODEC).forGetter(PlayerTeam.Packed::color), // Paper - better fail on decode
+                     Codec.BOOL.optionalFieldOf("AllowFriendlyFire", true).forGetter(PlayerTeam.Packed::allowFriendlyFire),
+                     Codec.BOOL.optionalFieldOf("SeeFriendlyInvisibles", true).forGetter(PlayerTeam.Packed::seeFriendlyInvisibles),
+                     ComponentSerialization.CODEC.optionalFieldOf("MemberNamePrefix", CommonComponents.EMPTY).forGetter(PlayerTeam.Packed::memberNamePrefix),
diff --git a/paper-server/src/main/java/io/papermc/paper/util/PaperCodecs.java b/paper-server/src/main/java/io/papermc/paper/util/PaperCodecs.java
index 22f24d35ef..10317465eb 100644
--- a/paper-server/src/main/java/io/papermc/paper/util/PaperCodecs.java
+++ b/paper-server/src/main/java/io/papermc/paper/util/PaperCodecs.java
@@ -1,13 +1,18 @@
 package io.papermc.paper.util;
 
 import com.mojang.datafixers.util.Pair;
+import com.mojang.serialization.Codec;
 import com.mojang.serialization.DataResult;
 import com.mojang.serialization.Decoder;
 import com.mojang.serialization.DynamicOps;
+import com.mojang.serialization.MapCodec;
+import com.mojang.serialization.RecordBuilder;
+import com.mojang.serialization.codecs.OptionalFieldCodec;
 import io.papermc.paper.adventure.AdventureCodecs;
 import io.papermc.paper.registry.RegistryAccess;
 import io.papermc.paper.registry.RegistryKey;
 import io.papermc.paper.registry.TypedKey;
+import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.function.Function;
 import net.kyori.adventure.key.Key;
 import net.minecraft.core.Holder;
@@ -19,6 +24,25 @@ import org.jspecify.annotations.NullMarked;
 @NullMarked
 public final class PaperCodecs {
 
+    /**
+     * This codec is lenient on decoding and encoding compared to native OptionalFieldCodec
+     * which only has options to be lenient on decoding.
+     */
+    public static <M> MapCodec<Optional<M>> lenientCodec(final String name, final Codec<M> codec) {
+        return new OptionalFieldCodec<>(name, codec, true) {
+            @Override
+            public <T> RecordBuilder<T> encode(final Optional<M> input, final DynamicOps<T> ops, final RecordBuilder<T> prefix) {
+                if (input.isPresent()) {
+                    final DataResult<T> result = codec.encodeStart(ops, input.get());
+                    if (!result.isError()) {
+                        return prefix.add(name, result);
+                    }
+                }
+                return prefix;
+            }
+        };
+    }
+
     public static <A extends Keyed, M> Decoder<A> registryFileDecoderFor(final Decoder<? extends M> directNmsDecoder, final Function<? super Holder<M>, A> directHolderConverter, final RegistryKey<A> registryKey, final boolean allowInline) { // TODO remove Keyed
         final Decoder.Terminal<A> terminalDecoder = directNmsDecoder.map(nms -> directHolderConverter.apply(Holder.direct(nms))).terminal();
         return Decoder.ofTerminal(new Decoder.Terminal<>() {
diff --git a/paper-server/src/main/java/org/bukkit/craftbukkit/scoreboard/CraftTeam.java b/paper-server/src/main/java/org/bukkit/craftbukkit/scoreboard/CraftTeam.java
index 0a29779c6c..553778b3a4 100644
--- a/paper-server/src/main/java/org/bukkit/craftbukkit/scoreboard/CraftTeam.java
+++ b/paper-server/src/main/java/org/bukkit/craftbukkit/scoreboard/CraftTeam.java
@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@ final class CraftTeam extends CraftScoreboardComponent implements Team {
     @Override
     public void setColor(ChatColor color) {
         Preconditions.checkArgument(color != null, "Color cannot be null");
+        Preconditions.checkArgument(!color.isFormat(), "Color must be a color not a format");
         this.checkState();
 
         this.team.setColor(CraftChatMessage.getColor(color));