diff --git a/utilities/utils.py b/utilities/utils.py
index ab00b63..d4704ac 100644
--- a/utilities/utils.py
+++ b/utilities/utils.py
@@ -36,13 +36,16 @@ def format_highscore_message(boss_name: str, guild_data: dict):
                 username: str = score_pair[0].ljust(guild_data["username_length"], " ")
                 score: str = str(score_pair[1])
 
+                # pad score to correct length
+                # MM:SS.ms is 7 characters long
                 if highscores_config["categories"][key]["is_time_record"]:
-                    # pad score to correct length
-                    # MM:SS.ms is 7 characters long
-                    score = score.ljust(7, " ")
+                    # if there are single digit minutes, add a space for formatting.
+                    if score.find(":") and len(score.split(":", maxsplit=1)[0]) < 2:
+                        score = " " + score
+                else:
+                    score = score.rjust(7, " ")
 
-                line_str = f"{i+1}: {username} - "
-                ret_string += line_str + score.rjust(26 - len(line_str) - 1) + " "
+                ret_string += f"{i+1}: {username} - {score}".ljust(26, " ")
             else:
                 ret_string += f"{i+1}: submit your score".ljust(26, " ")
         ret_string += "\n"