Universal low-energy properties are studied for three identical bosons confined in two dimensions. The short-range pairwise interaction in the low-energy limit is described by means of the boundary condition model. The wave function is expanded in a set of eigenfunctions on the hypersphere, and the system of hyperradial equations is used to obtain analytical and numerical results. Within the framework of this method, exact analytical expressions are derived for the eigenpotentials and the coupling terms of hyperradial equations. The derivation of the coupling terms is generally applicable to a variety of three-body problems provided the interaction is described by the boundary condition model. The asymptotic form of the total wave function at a small and a large hyperradius $\ensuremath{\rho}$ is studied, and the universal logarithmic dependence $\ensuremath{\sim}{\mathrm{ln}}^{3}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\rho}$ in the vicinity of the triple-collision point is derived. Precise three-body binding energies and the
(2+1)-scattering length are calculated.
The two-body scattering length a for
4He atoms is much larger than their effective range
rs. As a consequence, low-energy few-body observables have universal characteristics that are independent of the interaction potential. Universality implies that, up to corrections suppressed by
rs/a, all low-energy three-body observables are determined by a and a three-body parameter ${\ensuremath{\Lambda}}_{*}.$ We give simple expressions in terms of a and ${\ensuremath{\Lambda}}_{*}$ for the trimer binding-energy equation, the atom-dimer scattering phase shifts, and the rate for three-body recombination at threshold. We determine ${\ensuremath{\Lambda}}_{*}$ for several
4He potentials from the calculated binding energy of the excited state of the trimer and use it to obtain the universality predictions for the other low-energy observables. We also use the calculated values for one potential to estimate the effective range corrections for the other potentials.