As John points out, the numbers below the faders don't "do" anything. They're a readout that shows how much a fader is boosting or attenuating a signal. In the console view, the faders work in tandem with the meters to their right to help you set levels.
The reason why levels are important is that if the levels are too high, then you can overload the system, which creates distortion. If the meters go so high they turn red, then the levels are too high and you need to bring down the fader. If the levels are too low, then that may lead to noise creeping in because the
signal-to-noise ratio is too low - in other words, there's less signal, and more noise. In that case you need to turn up the fader.
In mixers and audio in general, there's a concept called "unity gain." This means that something (like an amplifier) neither amplifies nor attenuates - the signal at the amplifier's output is the same level as the level at the amplifier's input.
When the fader readout shows 0, that means it's set for unity gain. So, if the peak level on a track is -3 dB, and the fader is set for 0, then the peak reading on the meter will be -3. Now, suppose you set the fader so the fader readout shows -4. This means it's attenuating the signal (i.e., reducing its level) by 4 dB. Now that peak track level of -3 dB shows up as -7 dB on the meter because it is 4 dB lower.
If you set the fader so its readout is 2.0, it's boosting the signal from the track by 2 dB. When you play back the track with its peak level of -3 dB, the meter will show the peak level as -1.0 instead of -3 dB because that original signal coming from the track has been boosted by 2 dB, thanks to turning up the fader.
When mixing, it's good practice to leave the master fader at 0 dB, then adjust the individual channel faders so that the master output meter never goes high enough to light red.
Those are the basics...does that make sense?