The present invention discloses a device discovery method which relates to the field of communications technologies, and can reduce signaling interaction in a process of discovering a nearby device and lower power consumption of the UE. The method in the present invention mainly includes: receiving, by a server, a discovery request, where the discovery request is used to request to discover another UE near a user equipment UE, and the discovery request includes a discovery category indication; generating discovery configuration information according to the discovery category indication, and sending the discovery configuration information to a base station or the UE, where the discovery configuration information is used to configure a parameter that is used when the base station or the UE detects another nearby UE; and receiving a discovery result sent by the base station or the UE.