If you add color a players name for the tab list, the color will combine with the red/green of the of the ping bar and make it ugly. This is fixable by setting the color to white between the name and the bar.
Also, it is impossible to color long names in the list because the client counts the colors in the length check and will kick everyone if it is considered too long.
Linked issues
Comments 6
I'm just going by example: https://mojang.atlassian.net/browse/MC-40
The issue itself is in the base minecraft client, it might be impossible to color the names without a modded server now but this glitch won't go away when the official API is added.
Strict rules. At least I've put a related-link to MC-40
This ticket is invalid as it relates to a modded or 3rd party client/server.
Any non-standard client/server build needs to be taken up with the appropriate team, not Mojang.
Any plugin issues need to be addressed to the plugin creator.
This site is for addressing issues related to the base unmodded MineCraft.