Are you talking about the "Notifications" drop down that tells the user when they have new things such as friend requests? Or are you talking about the "Notices" in vB 3.7?
It is most likely a template modification. The design aspect (that I can see) is to remove any "area" that may not be needed. If your going to have a drop down that just lists a bunch of "zeros" why have it? But there would most likely be a template edit in the navbar template.
Are you talking about the "Notifications" drop down that tells the user when they have new things such as friend requests? Or are you talking about the "Notices" in vB 3.7?