diff --git a/OpenRa.Game/Game.cs b/OpenRa.Game/Game.cs
index 0a89612c46..a36067a9ec 100644
--- a/OpenRa.Game/Game.cs
+++ b/OpenRa.Game/Game.cs
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ namespace OpenRa.Game
 			Rules.LoadRules(mapName);
 
 			for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++)
-				players.Add(i, new Player(i, string.Format("Multi{0}", i), Race.Allies));
+				players.Add(i, new Player(i, i, string.Format("Multi{0}", i), Race.Allies));
 
 			localPlayerIndex = localPlayer;
 
diff --git a/OpenRa.Game/Order.cs b/OpenRa.Game/Order.cs
index 66675d2d99..e983fc3cb3 100644
--- a/OpenRa.Game/Order.cs
+++ b/OpenRa.Game/Order.cs
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ namespace OpenRa.Game
 					{
 						var ret = new MemoryStream();
 						var w = new BinaryWriter(ret);
-						w.Write((uint)Player.Palette | 0x80000000u);
+						w.Write((uint)Player.Index | 0x80000000u);
 						w.Write((byte)0xFF);
 						w.Write(OrderString);
 						w.Write(Subject == null ? 0xFFFFFFFF : Subject.ActorID);
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ namespace OpenRa.Game
 		{
 			if ((first >> 31) == 0) return null;
 
-			var player = Game.players.Where(x => x.Value.Palette == (first & 0x7FFFFFFF)).First().Value;
+			var player = Game.players.Where(x => x.Value.Index == (first & 0x7FFFFFFF)).First().Value;
 			switch (r.ReadByte())
 			{
 				case 0xFF:
diff --git a/OpenRa.Game/OrderManager.cs b/OpenRa.Game/OrderManager.cs
index 385ed30c5a..4a85c762dc 100755
--- a/OpenRa.Game/OrderManager.cs
+++ b/OpenRa.Game/OrderManager.cs
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ namespace OpenRa.Game
 			if( savingReplay != null )
 				savingReplay.Write( frameNumber );
 
-			var allOrders = players.SelectMany(p => p.OrdersForFrame(frameNumber)).OrderBy(o => o.Player.Palette);
+			var allOrders = players.SelectMany(p => p.OrdersForFrame(frameNumber)).OrderBy(o => o.Player.Index);
 			foreach (var order in allOrders)
 			{
 				UnitOrders.ProcessOrder(order);
diff --git a/OpenRa.Game/Player.cs b/OpenRa.Game/Player.cs
index 17beb34a8f..6163c9ab3b 100644
--- a/OpenRa.Game/Player.cs
+++ b/OpenRa.Game/Player.cs
@@ -9,9 +9,11 @@ namespace OpenRa.Game
 		public int Kills;
 		public string PlayerName;
 		public Race Race;
+		public readonly int Index;
 
-		public Player( int palette, string playerName, Race race )
+		public Player( int index, int palette, string playerName, Race race )
 		{
+			this.Index = index;
 			this.Palette = palette;
 			this.PlayerName = playerName;
 			this.Race = race;