Do these settings actually do anything?

Untitled

Yes, absolutely.

Transient means that the variable will not be serialized to disk.

SaveGame means that the variable will be serialized when the object that owns said variable is serialized. For instance, if you are building a custom save/load system, you can use that to find all properties you want to save.

Advanced Display moves the property into the advanced dropdown in the details panel within the editor.