The higher the number, the less tax will be taken out of your pay. So zero would result in the greatest withholding. But there's a push-pull between withholding amounts and the tax calculation on your tax return: the more you have withheld, the less you'll owe come tax time, and vice versa. It's the tax return where the final tally is made; withholding is simply an estimate.
In your case, as a single filer without dependents, 1 allowance on your W-4 would be appropriate.
In addition to your W-2, if you are also paid on a 1099-MISC for side work as an independent contractor, then you may want to make estimated tax payments, since there's usually no withholding on 1099-MISC income. Estimated payments allow you to "prepay" some of your taxes, thus reducing your bill at tax time. You can read about estimated payments here: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf.