IIRC, that setting renders the region, but if it is empty, nothing will show. The best thing to do is go to the theme's issue queue and search. I believe that question has already been asked and answered (and most likely closed).
Nancy
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. -- Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.
From: Anthony
A simple problem. Hope I get an answer. I am using Omega theme. Have ticked the box to render sidebar1 even when empty. But when I log out it doesn't appear.