ZrN and Zr-SiN coatings were formed using vacuum-arc plasma fluxes deposition system at the substrate bias voltage (U B) ranged from 2 50 to 2 220 V on HS6-5-2 steel substrates. The structural, mechanical and tribological properties were characterized using x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, nanoindentation and ball-on-disk test. The surface roughness parameter Ra of ZrN coatings is lower than Zr-SiN coatings. Both roughness Ra of Zr-SiN coatings and the number of surface defects with mainly small dimensions to 1 lm decrease with increasing negative substrate bias voltage. The addition of silicon to ZrN significantly reduces the crystallite size, from about 18.3 nm for ZrN coating to 6.4 nm for Zr-SiN coating both deposited at the same U B = 2 100 V and 7.8 nm for U B = 2 150 V. The hardness of Zr-SiN coatings increases to about 30 GPa with the increase in negative substrate bias voltage (U B = 2 220 V). Adhesion of the coatings tested is high, and critical load is above 80 N and reduces with U B increase. Coefficient of friction determined using AFM shows similar trend as surface roughness in microscale.