As the name suggests, Include/Exclude patterns are a set of Ant-like patterns in the form of “x/y/**/z/*” that can be configured on a repository level to limit the deployment, resolution, and searches of artifacts.
Include patterns are a list of patterns to include when processing artifact requests. Only artifacts matching one of the “include patterns” configured are served. (by default include all “**/*”)
Exclude patterns are a list of patterns to exclude when evaluating artifact requests according to the “exclude patterns” configured. (by default exclude none)