The microstructure, nonlinear properties, and impulse clamping characteristics of Pr/Co/Cr/Al co-doped zinc oxide ceramics were investigated with various contents of $Er_2O_3$. Increasing $Er_2O_3$ content increased the density of the sintered pellets from 5.69 to $5.83g/cm^3$, and decreased the average grain size from 10.6 to $6.5{mu}m$. With increased $Er_2O_3$ content, the breakdown field increased from 2318 to 4205 V/cm, and the nonlinear coefficient increased from 19.4 to 40.2. The clamp characteristics were improved with the increase of the content of $Er_2O_3$. The varistors doped with 2.0 mol% exhibited the best clamp characteristics, in which the clamp voltage ratio was 1.40-1.73 at 1-50 A in an impulse current.