Comma before a participle clause

Nat we usu write it as 1)
Wish I knew a rule

In your example, yes. The rule is no comma if the participial phrase is restrictive, otherwise use a comma.

A restrictive phrase is one which cannot be severed from what precedes it, while a non-restrictive phrase adds extra information.

In the sentence “She is the lady making me cry.”, the phrase "making me cry" is restrictive because it is an essential part of the sentence, and no comma is used.

In the sentence “She yelled at me, making me cry,” you use a comma because “making me cry” is extra information.

What about sentences like this:

1) I could see the village standing at the top of the hill.
2) I could seee the village, standing in front of the hill.

In the second example, I use a comma because "standing in front of the hill" modifies the subject 'I".

Is it another use of comma before participle phrases? To prevent ambiguity?

Let me give you another example:

3) I called him, arriving in the city.

If I use a comma here, it means that I called him the moment I arrived in the city?

That's a toughie Nat, but without comma the speedreader is taken aback, with the possibility that might have been 'caught'

I might've writ, 'Arriving in the city I called him,' where the comma is at your discretion