In PHP7+ to find if a value is set in a multidimensional array with a fixed number of dimensions, simply use the Null Coalescing Operator: ??
So for a three dimensional array where you are not sure about any of the keys actually existing
<?php
// instead of:
$exists = array_key_exists($key1, $arr) && array_key_exists($key2, $arr[$key1]) && array_key_exists($key3, $arr[$key1][$key2]) ;
// use:
$exists = array_key_exists($key3, $arr[$key1][$key2]??[]) ;
?>