An example setting is a setting that is used in a role-playing game publication in its play examples to explain rules, but which is not intended to be used by a group as an actual campaign setting and may not be fully defined beyond the examples in which it appears. Example settings are generally used in generic role-playing games that expect players to use homebrew settings or alternate settings sold separately.
For example, the example setting used in the original rulebook of Fate Core is called Hearts of Steel. Three example player characters are described (Landon, Cynere and Zird the Arcane), and some example non-player characters, place names and issues are also mentioned, but there is little detail and the setting could not be easily used for a campaign without extensive homebrewing by the players or the GM.
In games with an implicit setting, the example setting will show specific examples of how an actual setting might be constructed.