The present invention provides an activation system information transmission method, apparatus, and device. The method includes: receiving, by UE, a first system message sent by a base station, where the first system message includes activation indication information and a change indication tag, the activation indication information is used to indicate whether a function indicated in an activation system message is activated, and the change indication tag is used to indicate whether scheduling information of the activation system message changes; obtaining, by the UE, first scheduling information of the activation system message according to the activation indication information and the change indication tag; and reading the activation system message according to the first scheduling information, and selecting, according to the activation indication information and the change indication tag, different manners to obtain the first scheduling information of the activation system message.