In order to establish the relationship between the microstructure of surface topography and its functional properties, the percolation model of surface topography is established based on percolation theory. The percolation characterization of three dimensional (3D) surface topography is achieved with the percolation probability, the mean size of void clusters and the distribution coefficient of void clusters. The digital rough surfaces with given autocorrelation function (ACF) and orientation parameters are generated based on digital filter method. The percolation characteristics of 3D rough surfaces with the same root mean square (RMS) roughness and different structures are analyzed. The effects of surface texture parameter and autocorrelation length on the percolation characteristics of surface topography are obtained. The quantitative relationship between surface topography and percolation parameters is established by 3D characterization parameters (ISO25178). The results show that the surface height, the percolation threshold and percolation volume decrease with the increase of the surface texture parameter while searching the spanning void cluster of the anisotropic surfaces along the transverse direction. The distribution coefficient of void clusters increases with the increase of surface texture parameter. The changing law is opposite to the transverse while searching along the longitudinal direction. For the isotropic surfaces, the surface height and the percolation threshold decrease firstly and then increase slightly. Besides, the percolation volume and the distribution coefficient of void clusters decrease gradually with increase of the autocorrelation length. This study provides a theoretical basis for the design of functionoriented surface topography.