diff --git a/skymp5-server/cpp/addon/property_bindings/AppearanceBinding.cpp b/skymp5-server/cpp/addon/property_bindings/AppearanceBinding.cpp
index a54c78466e..35f644eec2 100644
--- a/skymp5-server/cpp/addon/property_bindings/AppearanceBinding.cpp
+++ b/skymp5-server/cpp/addon/property_bindings/AppearanceBinding.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "AppearanceBinding.h"
 #include "NapiHelper.h"
+#include "UpdateAppearanceMessage.h"
 
 Napi::Value AppearanceBinding::Get(Napi::Env env, ScampServer& scampServer,
                                    uint32_t formId)
@@ -34,19 +35,13 @@ void AppearanceBinding::Set(Napi::Env env, ScampServer& scampServer,
 
   auto appearance = actor.GetAppearance();
 
-  std::string msg;
-  msg += Networking::MinPacketId;
-  msg += nlohmann::json{
-    { "data",
-      appearance ? nlohmann::json::parse(appearance->ToJson())
-                 : nlohmann::json{} },
-    { "idx", actor.GetIdx() },
-    { "t", MsgType::UpdateAppearance }
-  }.dump();
+  UpdateAppearanceMessage message;
+  message.appearance = appearance ? *appearance : std::nullopt;
+  message.idx = actor.GetIdx();
 
   for (auto listener : actor.GetActorListeners()) {
-    // TODO: change to SendToUser
-    listener->SendToUserDeferred(msg.data(), msg.size(), true,
-                                 kChannelAppearance, false);
+    // TODO: change to SendToUser, probably was deferred only for ability to
+    // send text packets
+    listener->SendToUserDeferred(message, true, kChannelAppearance, false);
   }
 }
diff --git a/skymp5-server/cpp/mp_common/NetworkingInterface.h b/skymp5-server/cpp/mp_common/NetworkingInterface.h
index bc2dd4488e..e40c1c88e6 100644
--- a/skymp5-server/cpp/mp_common/NetworkingInterface.h
+++ b/skymp5-server/cpp/mp_common/NetworkingInterface.h
@@ -60,28 +60,4 @@ class IServer : public ISendTarget
 
   virtual std::string GetIp(UserId userId) const = 0;
 };
-
-template <class FormatCallback, class... Ts>
-inline void Format(const FormatCallback& cb, const char* format, Ts... args)
-{
-  auto textSize = (size_t)snprintf(nullptr, 0, format, args...);
-
-  const auto n = textSize + sizeof('\0') + sizeof(MinPacketId);
-  std::vector<char> buf(n);
-
-  buf[0] = MinPacketId;
-  auto len = (size_t)snprintf(buf.data() + 1, n - 1, format, args...);
-
-  cb(reinterpret_cast<Networking::PacketData>(buf.data()), len + 1);
-}
-
-template <class... Ts>
-inline void SendFormatted(Networking::ISendTarget* sendTarget,
-                          Networking::UserId userId, const char* format,
-                          Ts... args)
-{
-  Format([&](Networking::PacketData data,
-             size_t length) { sendTarget->Send(userId, data, length, true); },
-         format, args...);
-}
 }
diff --git a/skymp5-server/cpp/server_guest_lib/MpActor.cpp b/skymp5-server/cpp/server_guest_lib/MpActor.cpp
index efee1f380f..2097e295bf 100644
--- a/skymp5-server/cpp/server_guest_lib/MpActor.cpp
+++ b/skymp5-server/cpp/server_guest_lib/MpActor.cpp
@@ -400,13 +400,12 @@ void MpActor::SendToUser(const IMessageBase& message, bool reliable)
   }
 }
 
-void MpActor::SendToUserDeferred(const void* data, size_t size, bool reliable,
+void MpActor::SendToUserDeferred(const IMessageBase& message, bool reliable,
                                  int deferredChannelId,
                                  bool overwritePreviousChannelMessages)
 {
   if (callbacks->sendToUserDeferred) {
-    callbacks->sendToUserDeferred(this, data, size, reliable,
-                                  deferredChannelId,
+    callbacks->sendToUserDeferred(this, data, reliable, deferredChannelId,
                                   overwritePreviousChannelMessages);
   } else {
     throw std::runtime_error("sendToUserDeferred is nullptr");
diff --git a/skymp5-server/cpp/server_guest_lib/MpActor.h b/skymp5-server/cpp/server_guest_lib/MpActor.h
index 775f0a9468..3a33eb4183 100644
--- a/skymp5-server/cpp/server_guest_lib/MpActor.h
+++ b/skymp5-server/cpp/server_guest_lib/MpActor.h
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ class MpActor : public MpObjectReference
   void Disable() override;
 
   void SendToUser(const IMessageBase& message, bool reliable);
-  void SendToUserDeferred(const void* data, size_t size, bool reliable,
+  void SendToUserDeferred(const IMessageBase& message, bool reliable,
                           int deferredChannelId,
                           bool overwritePreviousChannelMessages);