diff --git a/src/pocketmine/event/player/PlayerChatEvent.php b/src/pocketmine/event/player/PlayerChatEvent.php
index 875267525..b9939bca0 100644
--- a/src/pocketmine/event/player/PlayerChatEvent.php
+++ b/src/pocketmine/event/player/PlayerChatEvent.php
@@ -86,6 +86,13 @@ class PlayerChatEvent extends PlayerEvent implements Cancellable{
 	}
 
 	public function setFormat($format){
+		//TODO: @deprecated (backwards-compativility)
+		$i = 0;
+		while(($pos = strpos($format, "%s")) !== false){
+			$format = substr($format, 0, $pos) . "{%$i}" . substr($format, $pos + 2);
+			++$i;
+		}
+
 		$this->format = $format;
 	}