A system and method for defining data packet byte order is provided, which utilizes the exchange of endian-neutral data packets between computers or network devices connected to each other via a network connection. After opening the network connection, the client computer sends client information to the server computer. Included within this client information is the endianness of the client computer. In response, the server computer sends a server information packet to the client, which contains the server endianness. After the exchange of these data packets, future data transfers between the networked computers can be translated into the proper endianness of the receiving computer.