Online PHP editor | output for sB9Z3

<?php $array = array( 55 => array( 'ident' => 'test 1', 'depth' => 1, ), 77 => array( 'parent_id' => 55, 'ident' => 'test 2', 'depth' => 2, ), 109 => array( 'parent_id' => 77, 'ident' => 'test 3', 'depth' => 3, ), 78 => array( 'parent_id' => 55, 'ident' => 'test 4', 'depth' => 2, ), 25 => array( 'ident' => 'test 5', 'depth' => 1, ) ); foreach ($array as $key => &$sub) { if (isset($sub['parent_id'])) { $array[$sub['parent_id']]['children'][$key] = &$sub; } } unset($sub); // unset the reference to make sure to not overwrite it later... // now remove the entries with parents foreach ($array as $key => $sub) { if (isset($sub['parent_id'])) //unset($array[$key]); } var_dump($array);