$setting_empty_hash_as_object = true; does nothing still quoted '{}'

[xenoborg]

$array['buildings'] = array(array('location_x' => $locationX, 'element' => $element, 'temperature' => $temperature, 'storage' => [], 'rottable' => '{}', 'amounts' => [], 'other_values' => []));

returns
buildings:

location_x: null
element: null
temperature: null
storage: [ ]
rottable: '{}'
amounts: [ ]
other_values: [ ]

When as far as im aware should return - rottable: {} ?
Which is my desired result, as anything else crashes the application using the yaml file.