A method and an apparatus for determining a resource indicator are described, so that according to a specified resource, another resource associated with the resource can be determined, thereby rapidly determining an indicator of the resource. An association relationship tree information is obtained. The association relationship tree information is used to indicate association relationships between multiple resources. The multiple resources include resources located at at least three resource layers, the association relationships include a direct association relationship and an indirect association relationship. Two resources having the direct association relationship are separately located at two adjacent resource layers, and two resources having the indirect association relationship are separately located at resource layers spaced by at least one resource layer. A second resource having the indirect association relationship with a first resource is determined. The indicator of the first resource is determined according to the second resource.