--- 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),
