The invention relates to the technical field of ceramic materials, in particular to a method for preparing high-compactness silicon nitride ceramic by adding composite additives. Auxiliary materials are prepared from, by mass, 70-90% of silicon nitride, 4-15% of metal oxide, 3-12% of rare earth oxide, 0.5-3% of a binding agent, 0-8% of silicon dioxide, 0-3% of cesium fluoride, 0-1% of a dispersing agent and 0-0.15% of a defoaming agent. The raw materials, grinding medium balls and dispersing media are mixed and dried and then are screened, and granulation powder is obtained; the granulation powder is placed in a mold to be pressed into green bodies, the green bodies are placed in a sintering furnace after being dried, and the high-compactness silicon nitride ceramic is obtained through sintering under nitrogen protection. By mans of the preparation method, the silicon nitride ceramic can be sintered at normal pressure, operation is easy, convenient and feasible, cost is low, and the preparation method is suitable for industrial production. Besides, the silicon nitride ceramic obtained through sintering is good in compactness and high in bending strength and can be widely used as structural element materials in the fields of machinery, metallurgy, aerospace and the like.