[Objective] The effects and interaction of nitrogen, phosphorus and water on the germination of a soil seed bank in vegetation restoration project were explored in order to provide valuable reference for the judicious utilization of topsoil and the control of key parameters on soil seed bank's vegetation recovery engineering.[Methods] The effect of three factors (nitrogen, phosphorus and water) on soil seed bank's germination and early seedling growth were studied using greenhouse germination experiments. Box-Behnken central composite design (BBC) combined with the response surface methodology (RSM) was used to explore the interaction effect of these three factors on the soil seed bank's germination and early seedling growth, and the optimal scheme of soil seed bank's vegetation restoration was obtained. Finally, the coupling effect of the three factors in the response surface model was verified by the dimension reduction method.[Results] ① With nitrogen, phosphorus and water content in the range of 5~20 g/m², 5~15 g/m², 10~30 mm respectively, the germination effect on the soil seed bank was the best in the single factor experiment; ② The quadratic model was selected in the response surface analysis, and the water had the most important influence on soil seed bank. The optimal conditions for the vegetation recovery was determined to be with levels of nitrogen of 13.54 g/m², phosphorus of 9.47 g/m², and water content of 30 mm respectively; ③ Plant uptake of nitrogen and phosphorus was relatively lower under low water content, in which the interaction of nitrogen, phosphorus and water content was not significant. In the case of higher water content, even if fewer fertilizers were applied, the germination effect on the corresponding soil seed bank was higher than that of the treatment with high fertilizer level but water stress. The water content was determined to be the most important factor in the research by the method of dimension reduction, which was consistent with the result of response surface analysis.[Conclusion] Optimal conditions may slightly different from the actual, but the research still has great reference value, and the interaction effect of nitrogen, phosphorus and water shows the promotion effect on soil seed bank's germination and early seedling growth.