It really depends which settings you need. One easy solution could be something like thins
plugin.tx_news.settings {
mainCol {
setting = abc
}
leftCol {
setting = def
}
}
and in the fluid templates
<f:if condition="{contentObjectData.colPos} == 3">
<f:then><f:variable name="mySettings">{settings.mainCol}</f:then>
<f:else><f:variable name="mySettings">{settings.leftCol}</f:else>
</f:if>
<f:render section="list" arguments="{_all}" />
<f:section name="list">
... do your stuff here
{mySettings -> f:debug(inline:1)}
</f:section>