If the font change didn't work, that probably means you have a script that replaces the normal display of MOTD with your scripted one. To see if this is the case:
1. disable all scripts with: /remote off
2. reconnect to that server, and see if the display is correct while using font FixedSys.
3. re-enable your scripts before you forget: /remote on.
If the display works, you probably have a script which traps the 'raw' event numeric 372. Without knowing what your script handler looks like, it's hard to know how to fix it. The extra spaces are already removed by the time $1- sees the text, so you must use $parms to access the 'true' string. This shows a little of how you would fix, using $parms inside the event, instead of %a.
//var %a a $+ $str($chr(32),5) $+ b | echo -a consecutive spaces. without: %a with: $replace(%a,$chr(32),$chr(160))
