hash = {"123": {"hola":{"wassup":9}}} sip = "123" dip = "hola" dport = "wassup" if not hash.get(sip): hash[sip] = {dip :{ dport: 5}} if not hash.get(sip).get(dip): hash[sip][dip] = {dport:1} print "hola" if not hash.get(sip).get(dip).get(dport): hash[sip][dip][dport] = 7 else: hash[sip][dip][dport] +=1 print hash